EP0779136B1 - Method of recycling and granulating waste container made of resin materials - Google Patents
Method of recycling and granulating waste container made of resin materials Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0779136B1 EP0779136B1 EP19960119759 EP96119759A EP0779136B1 EP 0779136 B1 EP0779136 B1 EP 0779136B1 EP 19960119759 EP19960119759 EP 19960119759 EP 96119759 A EP96119759 A EP 96119759A EP 0779136 B1 EP0779136 B1 EP 0779136B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- resin materials
- resin
- pieces
- impact
- main body
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
Links
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 title claims description 134
- 229920005989 resin Polymers 0.000 title claims description 128
- 239000011347 resin Substances 0.000 title claims description 128
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims description 102
- 239000002699 waste material Substances 0.000 title claims description 51
- 238000004064 recycling Methods 0.000 title description 10
- 238000000227 grinding Methods 0.000 claims description 34
- 238000004140 cleaning Methods 0.000 claims description 23
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 claims description 22
- 239000008187 granular material Substances 0.000 claims description 20
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Substances O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 20
- 238000001035 drying Methods 0.000 claims description 15
- 238000005469 granulation Methods 0.000 claims description 15
- 230000003179 granulation Effects 0.000 claims description 15
- 229920005992 thermoplastic resin Polymers 0.000 claims description 6
- 239000002985 plastic film Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- 229920006255 plastic film Polymers 0.000 claims description 5
- 239000012815 thermoplastic material Substances 0.000 claims 1
- 229920000728 polyester Polymers 0.000 description 42
- 239000003921 oil Substances 0.000 description 37
- 235000019198 oils Nutrition 0.000 description 37
- 239000004698 Polyethylene Substances 0.000 description 32
- 229920000573 polyethylene Polymers 0.000 description 32
- 240000008415 Lactuca sativa Species 0.000 description 28
- 235000012045 salad Nutrition 0.000 description 28
- 239000004800 polyvinyl chloride Substances 0.000 description 25
- 229920000915 polyvinyl chloride Polymers 0.000 description 25
- 239000000047 product Substances 0.000 description 24
- 230000001105 regulatory effect Effects 0.000 description 19
- 239000012530 fluid Substances 0.000 description 16
- -1 dew Substances 0.000 description 15
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 15
- 239000004576 sand Substances 0.000 description 11
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 9
- 229910052751 metal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 9
- 239000002689 soil Substances 0.000 description 9
- 239000011499 joint compound Substances 0.000 description 8
- 229920003023 plastic Polymers 0.000 description 7
- 239000004033 plastic Substances 0.000 description 7
- 235000013361 beverage Nutrition 0.000 description 6
- 230000003247 decreasing effect Effects 0.000 description 6
- 239000003599 detergent Substances 0.000 description 6
- 239000003086 colorant Substances 0.000 description 5
- 238000005498 polishing Methods 0.000 description 5
- 239000000843 powder Substances 0.000 description 5
- 230000009897 systematic effect Effects 0.000 description 5
- 238000005406 washing Methods 0.000 description 5
- XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N Iron Chemical compound [Fe] XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 4
- YBHQCJILTOVLHD-YVMONPNESA-N Mirin Chemical compound S1C(N)=NC(=O)\C1=C\C1=CC=C(O)C=C1 YBHQCJILTOVLHD-YVMONPNESA-N 0.000 description 4
- 235000013405 beer Nutrition 0.000 description 4
- 239000006210 lotion Substances 0.000 description 4
- 235000019992 sake Nutrition 0.000 description 4
- 235000015067 sauces Nutrition 0.000 description 4
- 239000008159 sesame oil Substances 0.000 description 4
- 235000011803 sesame oil Nutrition 0.000 description 4
- 239000002453 shampoo Substances 0.000 description 4
- 235000013555 soy sauce Nutrition 0.000 description 4
- 235000021419 vinegar Nutrition 0.000 description 4
- 239000000052 vinegar Substances 0.000 description 4
- 239000000835 fiber Substances 0.000 description 3
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 3
- 239000008188 pellet Substances 0.000 description 3
- 238000011084 recovery Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000004575 stone Substances 0.000 description 3
- 239000002023 wood Substances 0.000 description 3
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 2
- 235000014171 carbonated beverage Nutrition 0.000 description 2
- 238000005119 centrifugation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000011109 contamination Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000018044 dehydration Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000006297 dehydration reaction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000000945 filler Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000005484 gravity Effects 0.000 description 2
- 229910052742 iron Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 239000007788 liquid Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000004417 polycarbonate Substances 0.000 description 2
- 229920000515 polycarbonate Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 239000002244 precipitate Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000000126 substance Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 description 2
- MFYSUUPKMDJYPF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 2-[(4-methyl-2-nitrophenyl)diazenyl]-3-oxo-n-phenylbutanamide Chemical compound C=1C=CC=CC=1NC(=O)C(C(=O)C)N=NC1=CC=C(C)C=C1[N+]([O-])=O MFYSUUPKMDJYPF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 241000251468 Actinopterygii Species 0.000 description 1
- 229920000742 Cotton Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000004793 Polystyrene Substances 0.000 description 1
- FFBHFFJDDLITSX-UHFFFAOYSA-N benzyl N-[2-hydroxy-4-(3-oxomorpholin-4-yl)phenyl]carbamate Chemical compound OC1=C(NC(=O)OCC2=CC=CC=C2)C=CC(=C1)N1CCOCC1=O FFBHFFJDDLITSX-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000007664 blowing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000007906 compression Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000006835 compression Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000009508 confectionery Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000001276 controlling effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005260 corrosion Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000007797 corrosion Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000011161 development Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000008157 edible vegetable oil Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000007613 environmental effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000011194 food seasoning agent Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 239000012634 fragment Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000004615 ingredient Substances 0.000 description 1
- JEIPFZHSYJVQDO-UHFFFAOYSA-N iron(III) oxide Inorganic materials O=[Fe]O[Fe]=O JEIPFZHSYJVQDO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000012263 liquid product Substances 0.000 description 1
- 150000002739 metals Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- 229920000139 polyethylene terephthalate Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000005020 polyethylene terephthalate Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920002223 polystyrene Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 230000002035 prolonged effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000010008 shearing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000779 smoke Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002910 solid waste Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000004094 surface-active agent Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000002195 synergetic effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000013311 vegetables Nutrition 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
- B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
- B29B13/00—Conditioning or physical treatment of the material to be shaped
- B29B13/10—Conditioning or physical treatment of the material to be shaped by grinding, e.g. by triturating; by sieving; by filtering
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
- B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
- B29B17/02—Separating plastics from other materials
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
- B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
- B29B17/02—Separating plastics from other materials
- B29B2017/0203—Separating plastics from plastics
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
- B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
- B29B17/02—Separating plastics from other materials
- B29B2017/0213—Specific separating techniques
- B29B2017/0217—Mechanical separating techniques; devices therefor
- B29B2017/0237—Mechanical separating techniques; devices therefor using density difference
- B29B2017/0244—Mechanical separating techniques; devices therefor using density difference in liquids
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
- B29B7/00—Mixing; Kneading
- B29B7/30—Mixing; Kneading continuous, with mechanical mixing or kneading devices
- B29B7/58—Component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations
- B29B7/66—Recycling the material
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C2793/00—Shaping techniques involving a cutting or machining operation
- B29C2793/009—Shaping techniques involving a cutting or machining operation after shaping
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
- B29K2023/00—Use of polyalkenes or derivatives thereof as moulding material
- B29K2023/04—Polymers of ethylene
- B29K2023/06—PE, i.e. polyethylene
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
- B29K2025/00—Use of polymers of vinyl-aromatic compounds or derivatives thereof as moulding material
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
- B29K2027/00—Use of polyvinylhalogenides or derivatives thereof as moulding material
- B29K2027/06—PVC, i.e. polyvinylchloride
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
- B29K2067/00—Use of polyesters or derivatives thereof, as moulding material
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
- B29K2105/00—Condition, form or state of moulded material or of the material to be shaped
- B29K2105/06—Condition, form or state of moulded material or of the material to be shaped containing reinforcements, fillers or inserts
- B29K2105/065—Condition, form or state of moulded material or of the material to be shaped containing reinforcements, fillers or inserts containing impurities
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
- B29K2705/00—Use of metals, their alloys or their compounds, for preformed parts, e.g. for inserts
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29L—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
- B29L2031/00—Other particular articles
- B29L2031/712—Containers; Packaging elements or accessories, Packages
- B29L2031/7158—Bottles
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29L—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
- B29L2031/00—Other particular articles
- B29L2031/744—Labels, badges, e.g. marker sleeves
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
- Y02W30/00—Technologies for solid waste management
- Y02W30/50—Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
- Y02W30/52—Mechanical processing of waste for the recovery of materials, e.g. crushing, shredding, separation or disassembly
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
- Y02W30/00—Technologies for solid waste management
- Y02W30/50—Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
- Y02W30/62—Plastics recycling; Rubber recycling
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a method of recycling and granulating waste container made of thermoplastic resin materials.
- this invention relates to treating waste containers made of thermoplastic resin materials (hereinafter also called “resinous containers” ), which are used in an enormous number edible oils such as tem ⁇ pura (deep-fried fish and vegetables) oil, sesame oil, and salad oil; for viscous fluids such as Worcester sauce, mirin (sweet sake as seasoning) and dressings (hereinafter called “containers for viscous fluids” ); for various types products such as beverages, shampoo, detergents, eye lotion, vinegar, soy sauce, sake, and beer;wherein metal parts are removed from the waste resinous containers; the resin part is shredded in a broader sense crushed into small pieces ; foreign objects including residual contents such as oils, viscous fluids, beverages and other products for daily use as well as foreign matters such as rain water, dew, mud, soil, sand, and dirt clung adhering small pieces to the coarsely crushed pieces are separated and removed; each type of reusable resin materials is separated, recycled and granulated; thus, this invention
- Resinous containers mentioned above include bottles made of resin materials such as polyester (polyethylene terephthalate or PET, hereinafter called “PET bottles” ), polyethylene (hereinafter called “PE bottles” ), and poly(vinyl chloride) or PVC (hereinafter called “PVC bottles” ).
- PET bottles polyethylene terephthalate or PET
- PVC bottles poly(vinyl chloride) or PVC
- the resinous containers mentioned above such as PET bottles are used to contain oily products, viscous fluids, beverages, and other types of products for daily use.
- recent development of stretch-blowing technique made it possible to produce less expensive and high-performance PET bottles, which has resulted in an enormous number of discarded waste containers.
- the total weight of waste PET bottles is said to be 10,000 tons per month in Japan; consequently, recycling of waste PET bottles has become a social demand.
- waste containers made of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), polyester (PET), and polyethylene (PE) are discarded after consumption of the contained products, the discarded bottles are contaminated with foreign matters such as mud, soil, sand, and dirt. Conventionally, these containers have been collected, washed with water to remove the foreign objects, dried, crushed, and recycled into fibers or blow- molded piles for the replacement of wood.
- the waste containers have been washed with water for removal of the foreign objects and processed for recycling.
- the process includes washing and drying, requiring a large amount of water and a large equipment.
- oily materials such as tem-pura oil, sesame oil, and salad oil are harder to separate from the waste container, compared with other materials; e.g., washing with water could hardly remove these foreign objects and special detergents had to be used. Washing harmful materials such as surfactants with water contaminated rivers and had to be neutralized before draining, adding additional high costs of facility and operation.
- Viscous fluids such as Worcester sauce, dressing, and mirin are easier to separate than the ones above mentioned oily materials, while the viscosity sometimes has caused troubles in washing off these materials by water.
- US 5,375, 778 relates to a process for recovering and granulating resin materials from waste containers made of resin materials with plastic film wrapped around said container in which the resin material is first chipped or granulated and then the small pieces of granulate material and plastic film are separated by applying a wind force.
- EP 0,492,043 relates to a process of recovering and granulating plastic materials from articles made of plastic materials with paper labels wrapped around said container in which first the articles are immersed in hot water while being agitated, then injecting steam against the paper labels on the plastic articles to release the paper labels from bodies of the plastic articles, next breaking the detached paper labels and plastic articles into fragments and further separating the plastic portion by flying sorting to remove residual paper labels.
- the present invention is to solve these problems providing a method for separating and removing foreign objects such as the residual content, mud, soil, sand and dirt from the containers to be treated, efficiently recycling and granulating the resin materials into a specific range of size, in a relatively simple manner.
- the present invention is to solve these problems, providing a method according to claim 1.
- the process may further comprise the following steps:
- waste PE bottle used for oily products such as tem-pura oil, sesame oil, and salad oil was taken up, which products are the most difficult to separate and granulate; and as long as the method of this invention can separate and remove these oily products to recycle and granulate the resin material, other containers used for other products than the foregoing are easier to handle.
- all the waste PE bottles for viscous liquid products such as Worcester sauce, dressing, and mirin as well as for various products such as beverages, shampoo, detergents, eye lotion, vinegar, soy sauce, and beer can also be the object of waste containers.
- the resin materials of the object waste containers include polyethylene (PE), polyester (PET), and poly(vinyl chloride) (rigid PVC). A residual content as well as foreign matters such as mud, soil, sand, and dirt are remaining on the surfaces of these bottles.
- the bottles have various shapes and structures, and are made of various types of resin materials.
- Types of the waste containers include:
- the object waste bottle of FIG. 1 is a bottle without a skirt nor a printed label showing trademarks and etc.; and a bottle with a skirt and without a printed label wherein the cap, the screw portion, the main body, and the skirt are made of the same resin material.
- the cap is removed from the bottle and is discarded if it is made of metal, most of the residual content is discarded, and the cap, the screw portion, the main body, and the skirt are processed together through sorting, crushing, shredding, cleaning, separating, classifying, and granulating processes if all these parts are made of the same resin material.
- FIG. 1 a recycling method and processes for recycling PE from PE bottle are explained below referring to FIG. 1; wherein the residual content is salad oil.
- Bottles are sorted according to the resin types, PE, PET, or PVC in this process (FIG. 1 shows PE and PET only, but the object resin materials are not confined to these), and also to color/transparency.
- Colored containers should preferably be further classified into different colors.
- the PE bottles classified as above Sorting process are shredded or crushed in a broader sense into coarsely crushed pieces 81 using a crushing means 110 shown in FIG. 2.
- a preferable size of the coarsely crushed pieces obtained is, for example, 15 mm X 50 mm.
- the crushing means is to crush the object to be crushed into pieces of a suitable size, and is called a " crusher” in this embodiment
- FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of this "crusher”.
- Crusher 110 has an upper feeding inlet port to feed the material, two parallel counter-rotating axis in the main body of the crusher, a plurality of rotary blades at a specified interval on each axis, three fixed blades intermeshing with the rotary blades at the circumferential loci and inclined by the same angle. These fixed and rotary blades shreds the bottle into coarsely crushed pieces of a suitable size.
- the waste bottle is fed from the inlet port, the rotary blades push the waste bottle inward by the intermeshing blades which shred the bottle continuously by a shearing force, a compressing force generated between the the intermeshing blades crushes and shreds the bottle into coarsely crushed pieces 81. Residual salad oil is still stuck to the surface of the coarsely crushed pieces 81.
- the crushing means used in this invention is not confined to those mentioned above; e.g., other crushing means such as Gynax-Crusher manufactured by Horai Ltd., Roll-Crusher by Nara Machine Works, Ltd., as well as other crushing means such as mono-cutters, shredders, and other types of crusher can be used.
- the crushing means has two crushers 110 placed at two stages, upper and lower, to crush the object twice increasing the capacity greatly and decreasing the processing time. More details are explained in the embodiment associated with FIG. 2.
- This process can be omitted when waste container to be objected used only for an oily product, a viscous fluid, and other type of liquid and may be applied if required.
- Coarsely crushed pieces 81 produced in the crushing process are further shredded smaller into small pieces to be treated 82 using a shredder shown in FIG's 5 and 6.
- Small pieces to be treated 82 is, for example, a long square of approximately 2 mm X 15 mm, a square of approximately 10 mm X 10 mm, or a pieces with no specific shape with a side of approximately 10 mm or smaller. At this point, residual salad oil is still on the surface of the small pieces to be treated 82 as well as the above mentioned crushing process.
- the shredding means is to shred the coarsely crushed pieces 81 into small pieces to be treated 82, and is conveniently called a “cutter-mill” in this embodiment.
- the cutter-mill 120 has an inlet port to feed the coarsely crushed pieces 81, a cutter-supporter with rotary blades on its circumference, and a fixed blade in the main body with a suitable clearance from the rotary blades. More details of cutter-mill 120 are explained in the embodiment associated with FIG. 2.
- the clearance used in this embodiment is 0.2 through 0.3 mm.
- the coarsely crushed pieces 81 which are crushed by the above mentioned crusher 110 into a size of 15 mm x 50 mm are fed to the inlet port of cutter-mill 120 and shredded between the rotary and the fixed blades and almost all pieces are granulated and size-regulated into a size of approximately 2 mm x 15mm with unspecified shapes and areas, which can pass through the screen. Then, the small pieces to be treated 82 are discharged from the outlet port to transfer to the next process.
- An impact-grinding force and a centrifugal force are applied to the coarsely crushed pieces 81 crushed by the above crushing means or the small pieces to be treated 82 shredded in the Shredding process as required.
- a grinding force and an impact force mainly the latter impact force separates a part of the residual salad oil or other foreign objects on the surface of the coarsely crushed pieces 81, and further a centrifugal force readily separates the residual salad oil from the coarsely crushed pieces 81.
- the impact force exerted onto the coarsely crushed pieces 81 accelerates the separation of the residual salad oil, while the impact force controls the centrifugal force on the same resin piece 81 to a certain extent.
- the centrifugal force on the residual salad oil are hardly controlled and thrown away the salad oil more rapidly outward and then, easy separation and cleaning are facilitated. Further, the friction heat generated by the impact force increases the temperature of the residual salad oil to further accelerates the separation. In case a combination of an impact force and a grinding force crushes the coarsely crushed pieces 81, and also accelerates separation of the residual salad oil and a centrifugal force pushes out the residual salad oil from the coarsely crushed pieces 81.
- the coarsely crushed pieces 81 of PE bottles are centrifuged at 1600 through 1800 rpm for about 10 through 12 minutes.
- the coarsely crushed pieces 81 are crushed by a combination of an impact force and a grinding force into small spheres having a diameter of about 1 through 4 mm, which are further granulated and size- regulated, and polished into uniform grains.
- PE resin naturally forms spheres when an impact-grinding force is applied to PE bottle.
- Foreign objects other than oily products are separated from PE bottle coarsely crushed pieces by applying a centrifugal force at a revolution speed of 800 through 900 rpm for 5 through 6 minutes, and the pieces are granulated and size- regulated, and the grains are polished into a uniform size. Residual oily products were insufficiently separated by a centrifugation for 5 through 6 minutes, while they could be efficiently separated by a prolonged centrifugation.
- a batch size depended on the revolution speed, presence of air, and temperature.
- a 60 kg batch was processed for 10 minutes, and the final level of the residual salad oil was decreased to 0.1 percent by weight after granulation, polishing and recovered. This level is sufficiently low and without a problem because, usually, an oily material of that level is added to PE resin together with fillers when the resin is actually processed.
- a compressed air of approximately 5 kg/cm 2 should preferably be blasted onto these coarsely crushed pieces to facilitate separation of the residual oily product. More preferably, the compressed air should be preheated to increase the efficiently.
- the means for cleaning/separation/classification/granulation separates and removes the foreign objects from the coarsely crushed pieces 81 and small pieces to be treated 82 ; and crushes, cleans, and granulates the resin material from the main body of the waste container; and polishes to recycle the resin material.
- the means is conveniently called a "separator" in this embodiment.
- separator 130 has an inlet port 132 to feed the coarsely crushed pieces 81 and small pieces to be treated 82 (hereinafter explained as the small pieces to be treated 82) at the center of a fixed disk 131; the fixed end plate 133 faces the fixed disk 131 with a processing space 155 between them; and the circumferential side plate 135 fixes the circumferential fringes of the fixed end plates 133 to the fixed disk 131.
- the processing space 155 has a movable disk 141 driven by a horizontal rotary axis 142, and the horizontal rotary axes 142 are supported by the bearings 143,143.
- the horizontal rotary axes 142 are driven by a rotating means which are not shown.
- the fixed pins 134 are placed in a row on concentric loci a (FIG. 8, relative to the mobile disk 141) on the fixed disk 131; the mobile pins 144 are placed alternately on different loci b from the loci of the fixed pins on the mobile disk 141; and the fixed pins 134 and the mobile pins 144 are positioned to generate an impact-grinding force between the two types of pins, which forces are used to crush and polish the small pieces to be treated.
- a screen 151 with punched holes of a specified size is put on the circumferential side of the mobile disk 141, the discharge space 156 separates the screen from the circumferential side plate 135, and the discharge port 152 is positioned under the discharge space 156.
- a blower 157 is positioned at the outlet port 152 as shown in FIG. 7.
- the mesh size of the screen 151 in this embodiment is 1 mm in diameter, while a screen size of not larger than 1 mm is normally preferable, and 0.7 mm is the most preferable.
- An outlet port 153 is positioned in the lower part of the screen 151, and a plug valve 154 is placed at the outlet port 153 to control the opening.
- a communicating blower 158 is placed in the outlet port 153 as shown in FIG. 1 to suck the air in the separator 130, the outlet port 153 is connected to the inlet port 132 through the blower 158.
- the grinding force on the small pieces to be treated 82 is decreased, while an decreased clearance increases the grinding force.
- a liquid foreign object on the small pieces to be treated 82 requires an adjustment of clearance to decrease the grinding force and to increase the impact.
- the clearance should also be adjusted according to the grain size of the recovered resin materials to be polished and size-regulated.
- the mobile disk 141 is rotated with the horizontal rotary axis 142 by means of an unillustrated driving means, and the small pieces to be treated 82 fed from the inlet port 132 are crushed, polished, and granulated and size- regulated in a center portion of a processing area155; and approach the circumferential side by the impact-grinding force generated between the fixed pins 134 and the mobile pins 144.
- the impact applied on the small pieces to be treated 82 accelerates the separation of the residual salad oil, which is pushed outside by the centrifugal force, the impact force controlling the centrifugal force on small pieces to be treated only.
- the friction heat generated by the impact-grinding force increases the temperature of the salad oil on the surface of the small pieces to be treated 82, which further facilitates the separation.
- PE of PE bottle naturally forms spheres as its property, which are polished into a granules having diameters of about 1 through 4 mm.
- the separated salad oil and a part of the small pieces to be treated 82 pass the screen 151 pushed by the centrifugal force generated by the mobile pins 144, are classified in the discharge space 156, and are sucked and discharged through the outlet port 152 by the blower 157 (FIG. 5).
- the granulated and size-regulated resin materials 83 remains on the screen 151 as larger spheres. Some salad oil still remains on the larger granulated resin materials 83, and some salad oil separated from the small pieces to be treated 82 sticks to the granulated resin materials 83 when the latter passes through the screen.
- the plug valve 154 open, the discharge port 153 and the inlet port 132 are communicated through the blower 158 (FIG. 5); the granulated resin materials 83 taken out of the outlet port 153 is returned to the inlet port 132; and the recovered granulated resin materials 83 is crushed, polished, and granulated and size-regulated again.
- the salad oil 84 remaining on the granulated resin materials 83 are separated by a centrifugal force, the recrushed granulated resin materials passes through the screen 151, and are discharged through the discharge port 152. Although the granulated resin materials 83 are returned to the inlet port, the most part thereof remains on the screen 151 without being crushed into smaller ones to pass the screen.
- the cleaning/separating/classifying/granulation processes can be repeated until the salad oil on small pieces to be treated 82 in the batch is completely separated and discharged through the discharge port.
- the recycled PE resin in the form of granulated and size-regulated grains are taken out through the outlet port 153 by opening the plug valve 154.
- compressed air can be introduced into the processing space 155 of the separator 130, and the large granulated resin materials 83, which remain on the screen 151, can be returned to the inlet port through a hole on the fixed end plate 133 and the pipe.
- the recycled resin material can be raked out from the outlet port, or can be automatically collected in the collecting tank 240 as shown in FIG. 9. The latter case is explained in the next embodiment.
- separators 230a and 230b are placed at symmetrical positions so that they can be rotated using the same driving means; each separator 230a or 230b is to feed the processed coarsely crushed pieces 81 (or 82) to the inlet port 132a or 132b through the feeding tube 231a or 231b. Since the two separators 230a and 230b have the same structure, the function is explained using the separator 230a only.
- Separator 230a connects the outlet port 153 for the resin material with the feeding port 132 through the communicating pipe 235, and connects the piping 236 from the unillustrated compression air supply source with the outlet port side of the communicating pipe 235.
- a flow-regulating plate is placed at the communicating portion of the piping 236 to make the compressed air flow mainly toward the inlet port 132.
- the communicating pipe 235 is branched on the side of inlet ports 132a and 132b and a branch pipe 237 is attached to communicate with the recovery tank 240; and a three-way solenoid valve 238 is placed to switch the rout at pre-determined time using a timer at the branch point of the branch pipe.
- the discharge port 152a or 152b of each separator 230a or 230b communicates with the collecting tank 250 through the discharge pipe 239; the foreign object passing through the screen 151 (FIG. 7) can be sucked by the blower 157 placed in the discharge pipe 239 to discharge to the collecting tank 250.
- the separators 230a and 230b are activated by a driving means; the downstream side of the communicating pipe 235 is opened by the three-way solenoid valve 238 and the branch pipe side is closed; compressed air is fed from the piping 236 to the communicating pipe 235; and thus a circulating air stream generates pressure in the communicating pipe 235, the inlet port 132, the processing space 155, the outlet port 153, and again in the communicating pipe 235 in succession.
- the granulated resin materials 83 remaining on the screen 151 in a form of granules are sucked to the communicating pipe 235 by a circulating air stream, sent to the processing space 155 again, processed in the separators 230a and 230b; and the cycle is repeated until most of the residual salad oil in the batch is separated and removed as required.
- the downstream side of the communicating pipe 235 is closed by the solenoid valve and the branch pipe side is opened, and thus the granulated resin materials 83 on the screen 151 is collected to the recovery tank 240 through the communicating pipe 235 and the branch pipe 237.
- PE small pieces to be treated 82 is fed to separator 130 having the structure as mentioned above, and the mobile disk 141 is rotated at 1750 rpm with an A.C. frequency of 60 Hz. Then, the small pieces to be treated 82 were processed into granulated resin materials 83 in a form of spherical granules of around 1 through 2 mm in diameter, polished, and granulated and size-regulated. Residual salad oil in this granulated and size-regulated PE resin material was no more than 0.1 percent by weight.
- the rotating speed of the mobile disk 141 should be decreased not to polish and size-regulate the PE resin excessively into a fine powder.
- the rotating speed of the mobile disk 141 should be kept as low as possible within a range that can keep the granule size of PE larger than the mesh of the screen 151, since the oil and the viscous fluid are ejected outward faster than the small pieces to be treated 82 even with a decreased speed of the mobile disk 141.
- PET resin materials from polyester (PET) waste bottles with some residual salad oil is explained according to FIG. 1. Explanation on the processes common to PE are omitted for simplification.
- Metal caps are removed from the waste bottles, the residual product in the bottles was discarded; and the waste bottles are subjected to sorting, crushing, shredding, and cleaning/separation/classification/granulation.
- the sorted bottles are shredded or in a broader sense crushed using the crusher 110 as shown in FIG. 2 into pieces of, for embodiment , 15 mm X 50 mm (coarsely crushed pieces 81).
- the coarsely crushed pieces 81 obtained by the above crushing process are further shredded smaller, if required, as shown in FIG. 5, using a cutter mill 120 as a shredding means into small pieces to be treated 82: long squares of 2 mm X 15 mm, squares of 10 mm X 10 mm, or unspecified shapes of 10 mm or smaller.
- an impact-grinding force is applied to the coarsely crushed pieces 81 in the Crushing process or small pieces to be treated 82 (as required in the Shredding process) to separate and remove foreign objects; to crush, clean, and granulate thereof; and to polish, size-regulate, and collect the granules.
- Functions of each process is the same as explained above embodiment for treatment of PE bottles.
- the separator 130 used in the present embodiment has a screen 151 having mesh of 0.6 through 0.8 mm in diameter, conditions of the centrifuge were 900 through 1200 rpm and around 10 through 12 minutes per batch; thus the coarsely crushed pieces 81 or small pieces to be treated 82 were crushed, granulated and size-regulated, and polished into granules of unspecified shapes having a size of around 1 through 3 mm.
- PET bottles were processed for a longer time with a lower rotation speed to separate the oily foreign object from the coarsely crushed pieces 81 or small pieces to be treated 82. PET bottles does not naturally form spheres as in the case of PE when an impact-grinding force is applied.
- the residual salad oil in the recycled PET resin was no more than 0.1 percent by weight.
- PE and PET bottles were taken up as major resin materials for bottles, while other resin materials such as polycarbonate and poly(vinyl chloride) can also be recycled as granulated resin materials.
- salad oil was taken up as a residual foreign object
- other oils such as tem-pura oil and sesame oil
- Foreign objects other than oils include viscous fluids such as Worcester sauce, dressing, and mirin; various products such as beverages, shampoo, detergents, eye lotion, vinegar, soy sauce, sake, and beer; and the waste containers for these products can more easily be recycled as granules the residual contents of which are separated and removed; the process can be more easily carried out than in the case of oily products which already have been proved to be separable and removable from the waste containers.
- other foreign objects such as mud, soil, sand, and dirt can also be easily separated and removed by the method of the present invention.
- FIG. 2 is a systematic illustration of a process for the waste bottles other than the object of FIG. 1. However, FIG. 2 becomes FIG.1 with some unnecessary steps omitted; thus FIG. 2 can be a systematic illustration of all the processes including FIG. 1. In the mode of embodying the present invention, it is preferable to use an optimized conditions and an optimized combination of processes according to the types of residual content and resin.
- the object waste container is a bottle with other accessories such as a cap, a screw portion, and a skirt, at least one of which is made of a resin material different from that of the main body; and also a bottle with a label; thus a PET bottle for a carbonated beverage is taken up as an example.
- This PET bottle has accessories such as a skirt, a screw portion to tighten the cap, and a label which are made of other types of resin such as PP and PE. According to the present invention, this bottle can be processed without removing these accessories. The bottle is adhered or contaminated with the residual content, mud, soil,sand, and dirt.
- the metal cap is removed from the bottle consisting of a cap screw portion, the main body, and a label, and the residual content is discarded. Then, the bottle goes through a series of processes comprising sorting, crushing, window-force classification, shredding, cleaning/drying, separation/classification/granulation; and/or specific-gravity selection; as well as dehydration as required.
- bottles are sorted into those made of various types of resin material such as PET and PVC (only PET and PVC are described in FIG. 2, while the scope of this embodiment is not confined to these resin materials only), transparent and colored bottles, and bottles with or without skirts. Colored bottles should preferably be further sorted into different colors.
- resin material such as PET and PVC (only PET and PVC are described in FIG. 2, while the scope of this embodiment is not confined to these resin materials only), transparent and colored bottles, and bottles with or without skirts.
- Colored bottles should preferably be further sorted into different colors.
- the screw portion and/or the skirt can be cut off the main body of the bottle (hereinafter called a "bottle main body” ) to be processed independently.
- PVC bottles Normally, various parts of PVC bottles, including the screw portion for the cap, are made of a single resin material. Also, since the PVC bottles are not used for carbonated beverages, they do not have skirts. Most bottles have screw portions. For an efficient processing, the bottles should be sorted into different types of resin materials first, then into transparent and colored. Further, in the case of PET bottles, they are only sorted into bottles with and without skirts.
- the waste bottles are crushed or shredded by means of a crushing means 110 into coarsely crushed pieces 81 of 15 mm X 50 mm as shown in FIG. 3.
- the crushing means used is the crusher 110, which is the same as the crusher 110 in FIG. 3 which was used in the embodiment associated with FIG. 1. At this point, the coarsely crushed pieces 81 was black affected by the color of the foreign object.
- Crusher 210a has a horizontal axis and crusher 210b has an axis inclined by 45 degrees, which greatly increases the processing capacity and minimizes the processing time.
- a grinder 211 under the housing of crusher 110; i.e, the grinder 211 easily grinds the shredded waste container into coarsely crushed pieces 81, and facilitates to remove small stones and sand in the bottles.
- a net conveyor 212 having a band net inclined by approximately 45 degrees is placed under the grinder 211 to screen off small stones and sand contained in the coarsely crushed pieces 81.
- a magnetic selector 213 is placed under the tip of the moving net conveyor 212 to sort metal caps and rusted iron pieces contained in the coarsely crushed pieces 81. Further, the coarsely crushed pieces 81 free of metal and iron rust passes through a rotary screen 215 to separate foreign matters such as minute stones, sand, and metal powders.
- This process is to separate printed labels from the coarsely crushed pieces .
- the crushed polystyrene labels printed on its surface, which had been wrapped around PET bottles, are sucked by a blower 33 equipped with a cyclone 31.
- a sucking wind-force selector 30 capable of treating 200 through 500 kg/h of resin materials is used to suck the printed labels crushed in the previous process to separate them from the coarsely crushed pieces 81 of the crushed main body of container(FIG. 3).
- the coarsely crushed pieces 81 composed of the crushed main body of bottles from which labels have been separated, are further shredded into small pieces to be treated 82, for example, long squares of 2 mm X 15 mm; squares of 10 mm X 10 mm; or into unspecified shapes of a size not larger than 10 mm. At this point, the foreign object still remains on the surfaces of small pieces to be treated 82.
- the shredding means is to shred the coarsely crushed pieces 81 into small pieces to be treated82, and is called a "cutter mill” for convenience in the present embodiment .
- FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a cutter mill 120.
- the main body 121 of the cutter mill is a cylindrical casing having an opening on the top.
- the opening is covered with a lid 122, which can be freely opened and closed.
- the lid 122 has an inlet port 123 to feed the coarsely crushed pieces 81 into the main body 121 of the cutter mill.
- a cutter-supporter 124 is placed, which is supported on the bottom of the main body 121 of the cutter mill and is rotated horizontally by means of an unillustrated driving means; the cutter supporter 124 has three vertically long rotary blades 125 on its circumference; the three rotary blades 125 are placed on the cutter supporter 124 so as to make the same angle, 120 degrees, against the rotating direction; and the tips of the three rotary blades 125 are positioned on the same rotating locus.
- two fixed blades 126 are placed on the interior wall of the main body of the cutter mill at a symmetrical positions of the loci of and a small clearance from the rotary blades 125.
- the two fixed blades 126, the cutter-supporter 124, and the rotary blades 125 divide the main body of the cutter mill into two parts, forming the feeding chamber 127 and the shredding chamber 128.
- the inlet port 123 with the lid 122 communicates with the feeding chamber 127.
- the clearance between the two fixed blades 126 and the rotary blades 125 can be adjusted freely to shred the object material into a specified size.
- the clearance used in this embodiment is 0.2 through 0.3 mm.
- the mesh screen 129 divides the shredding chamber 128 between the two fixed blades 126 and to surround the locus of the rotary blades 125.
- the screen 129 is a mesh, through which the small pieces to be treated 82 of approximately 10 mm can pass.
- the coarsely crushed pieces 81, crushed by the crusher 110 in the crushing process of process 1 and having a size of approximately 15 mm X 50 mm are fed through the inlet port 123 with a lid 122 of the cutter mill 120; the coarsely crushed pieces 81 is shredded between the rotary blades 125 on the cutter-supporter 124 and the fixed blades 126 by rotating the cutter-supporter 124 by means of an unillustrated driving means; most of the shredded resin pieces go through the screen 129 to give small pieces to be treated 82 having shapes of long squares of approximately 2 x 15 mm, squares of approximately 10 x 10 mm, or unspecified shapes not larger than 10 mm in a side length; and the small pieces to be treated 82 go out of the discharge port to be transferred to the next process.
- the shredding means is not confined to the cutter mill mentioned above; e.g., "Hard-crusher” manufactured by Horai, Ltd. can also be used wherein the rotary axis for the rotary blades 125 is horizontal, and the screen 129 between the two fixed blades is at the bottom. At this point, the surface of the first-coarsely crushed pieces 81 are opaque and light-black with foreign matters on the surface partly removed.
- crushed pieces of resin materials may be dried in a known drier having a screen in order to classify or separating rain water, dew, mud, soil, sand, and dirt clung adhering thereto before the following Cleaning and drying process.
- Foreign matters 84 such as mud, soil, sand, metals, pieces of glass, dirt are removed from the surfaces of the shredded small pieces to be treated 82 in the above shredding process, which are squares or of unspecified shapes of approximately 10 mm in a side length, by an impact-grinding force; then the small pieces to be treated are cleaned and dried by the friction heat generated by the impact-grinding force on the small pieces to be treated.
- the small pieces to be treated 82 are processed at 800 through 900 rpm for approximately 5 minutes.
- Cleaning/drying and separation/classification/granulation are the processes which can be carried out in a single device.
- the small pieces to be treated 82 of the main body are cleaned, dried, crushed, polished, and granulated and size-regulated.
- PET is further crushed into a fine powder, and PP is separated from the main body, classified, and granulated and size-regulated.
- separator 130 shown in FIG's 7 and 8 was combined with the cleaning/drying means.
- the separator 130 was explained referring to the illustration associated with FIG. 1; accordingly, the explanation is simplified by limiting it to those required here.
- PVC bottles should preferably be sorted into each ones those having different colors; and then by a rotation of an unillustrated horizontal rotary axis 142 rotates the mobile disk 141, the small pieces to be treated 82 are fed from the inlet port 132 to be crushed, polished, and granulated and size-regulated by the impact-grinding force generated between the fixed and the mobile pins at the center of the processing space 155.
- the small pieces to be treated receive a centrifugal force together with the effects of polishing, granulating and impact-grinding force to approach the circumferential side.
- PET from the main body of a bottle is crushed into pieces of unspecified shapes not larger than 1 mm; the foreign objects are removed from the discharge port 152, which will be explained later, by means of the first separator.
- a part of the crushed main body of bottles in the mixture passes through the screen 151 with a centrifugal force generated by the mobile pins 144, classified in the discharge space 156, and are sucked and discharged into outside from the discharge port 152 through the blower 157.
- materials excluding foreign objects remain on the screen 151 as in the second separator, are taken out from the outlet port 153, and are fed to the second separator.
- the second separator processes, polishes, and granulates the materials into spheres of approximately 1 mm in diameter, or into rectangular or cylindrical shapes of approximately 2 through 5 mm in a side length, or into other shapes.
- some resin materials in the small pieces to be treated 82 are partially pulverized into a fine powder of an unspecified shape.
- the polished and granulated resin material and a part of PP from the skirt remains on the screen 151, which are returned to the inlet port 132 together with the materials discharged from the outlet port 153, because the outlet port 153 and the inlet port 132 being communicated together through the opened plug valve 154, and then the crushed resin material of the main body is pulverized to pass the screen 151 and is discharged through the discharge port 152.
- the granulated resin material which has not been sufficiently polished and granulated and size-regulated into fine granules, remains on the screen 151.
- Granules of PP as granulated resin materials are taken out through the outlet port 153 with the plug valve open.
- the same device as in the embodiment associated with FIG. 1 is also applied to take out granulated PP resin in this embodiment.
- Colors of the recycled resin materials were affected by those of the respective parts of bottles; i.e., PP from the skirt had a color of the skirt, and PET from the main body of bottles had colors of the main body; or was almost transparent, translucent and colorless, light-white, or was light-yellow in case transparent waste bottles are treated.
- experimental separators 130 having a structure mentioned earlier was used; 600 g of the small pieces to be treated 82 were fed to the first separator; the mobile disk 141 was rotated at 900 rpm; thus PET and some PP could be separated, and PP could be recovered from the second separator after a processing for 3 minutes at 1800 rpm.
- This process is to obtain a higher-grade resin materials.
- material of a screw portion of the bottle e.g., PP or PE
- specific-gravity selection of the screw portion resin in water is inserted instead of or after separation, classification, and granulation process, which follow the process for cleaning/drying in the second separator.
- the screw portion resin is separated, and the resin material of the main body only can be recycled.
- the mixture of resin materials after the cleaning/drying process is put into water; then light-weight PP becomes afloat and heavier PET or PVC precipitates.
- a liquid-cyclone separates PP from the other material, and the main resin material is recovered through a dehydration process.
- the liquid-cyclone 10 feeds the material into the inlet port 19, where water (20 t/h) and a process fluid (150 kg/h) including resin materials after above process is pushed into the cyclone 10.
- the mixed fluid forms a whirl-stream flowing down along the wall of the upper cyclone 16.
- This whirl-stream collects large specific gravity PET or PVC at the circumferential wall, pushes it down, and transfer to the lower cyclone 17 through the opening 20.
- PET or PVC moved to the upper part of the circumferential wall are taken out through the discharge port 25.
- the small specific gravity PP is collected at the center by another stream generated by the whirl-stream, and is taken out through the discharge pipe 18. Fluids are taken out through the outlet port 24, and the precipitates are taken out through the outlet port 26.
- the processes of this invention sometimes can be reversed or omitted according to the conditions of the collected PET or PVC bottles including the extent of contamination, other than shredding and cleaning/drying processes.
- the recycled granulated resin material of the present invention can be fed directly into an extruder to produce the products such as polyester fiber and polyester cotton or to produce pellets which are another form of resin materials.
- a virgin material of the same resin materials can be blended such as virgin PVC and recovered granulated and size-regulated PVC.
- a synthetic wood board can be produced from the pellets blended with a dried wood powder in a extruder.
- the present invention is so constituted as explained above, and has the effects described below.
- the resin material was efficiently and granulated and size-regulated into an appropriate range of grain size for reuse.
- the resin materials constituting the container for oily products which are the most difficult substances to be processed for recovering, could be efficiently recovered, and granulated and size-regulated into a required range of grain size for reuse, wherein combination of an impact-grinding force and a centrifugal force was applied, the combination having a synergetic effect which further facilitated separation and removal of oily foreign objects from the waste containers which was constituted with the same resin materials.
- the present invention contributes to saving cost and resources.
- the process of the present invention can eliminate the use of a cleaning chemical fluid to separate the foreign objects such as oily materials used with or without water, preventing the contamination of rivers with the cleaning drain and saving the cost for the facility and operation.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
- Separation, Recovery Or Treatment Of Waste Materials Containing Plastics (AREA)
- Processing And Handling Of Plastics And Other Materials For Molding In General (AREA)
Description
- The present invention relates to a method of recycling and granulating waste container made of thermoplastic resin materials.
- In more detail, this invention relates to treating waste containers made of thermoplastic resin materials (hereinafter also called "resinous containers" ), which are used in an enormous number edible oils such as tem―pura (deep-fried fish and vegetables) oil, sesame oil, and salad oil; for viscous fluids such as Worcester sauce, mirin(sweet sake as seasoning) and dressings (hereinafter called "containers for viscous fluids" ); for various types products such as beverages, shampoo, detergents, eye lotion, vinegar, soy sauce, sake, and beer;wherein metal parts are removed from the waste resinous containers; the resin part is shredded in a broader sense crushed into small pieces ; foreign objects including residual contents such as oils, viscous fluids, beverages and other products for daily use as well as foreign matters such as rain water, dew, mud, soil, sand, and dirt clung adhering small pieces to the coarsely crushed pieces are separated and removed; each type of reusable resin materials is separated, recycled and granulated; thus, this invention relates to a method for recycling and granulating reusable resin materials. Also, the recycled granules are further granulated into more uniform grain sizes, which are directly molded into products such as fibers and other forms of products, or into pellets; thus, the present invention relates to the method for implementing all of these processes.
- Resinous containers mentioned above include bottles made of resin materials such as polyester (polyethylene terephthalate or PET, hereinafter called "PET bottles" ), polyethylene (hereinafter called "PE bottles" ), and poly(vinyl chloride) or PVC (hereinafter called "PVC bottles" ).
- The resinous containers mentioned above (hereinafter simply called "containers " ) such as PET bottles are used to contain oily products, viscous fluids, beverages, and other types of products for daily use. Recent development of stretch-blowing technique made it possible to produce less expensive and high-performance PET bottles, which has resulted in an enormous number of discarded waste containers. The total weight of waste PET bottles is said to be 10,000 tons per month in Japan; consequently, recycling of waste PET bottles has become a social demand.
- Such waste stretch- blown containers (hereinafter simply called "waste containers" ) made of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), polyester (PET), and polyethylene (PE) are discarded after consumption of the contained products, the discarded bottles are contaminated with foreign matters such as mud, soil, sand, and dirt. Conventionally, these containers have been collected, washed with water to remove the foreign objects, dried, crushed, and recycled into fibers or blow- molded piles for the replacement of wood.
- These containers are resistant to water, weather, and corrosion; also PVC, in particular, generates a large amount of harmful gas and smoke when incinerated to disrupt the environment. Further, the melted resin materials stick to the furnace wall to spoil the furnace. To solve these problems, those waste containers are being used for a landfill, wherein the waste resin remains uncorroded over an extended period, they appear to present another factor for environmental disruption.
- On the other hand, such resin materials will yearly be exhausted due to resource depletion, and it is now demanded and recognized that the post-reuse resin materials must be recycled without disposal.
- Conventionally, the waste containers have been washed with water for removal of the foreign objects and processed for recycling. The process includes washing and drying, requiring a large amount of water and a large equipment.
- In particular, oily materials such as tem-pura oil, sesame oil, and salad oil are harder to separate from the waste container, compared with other materials; e.g., washing with water could hardly remove these foreign objects and special detergents had to be used. Washing harmful materials such as surfactants with water contaminated rivers and had to be neutralized before draining, adding additional high costs of facility and operation.
- Viscous fluids such as Worcester sauce, dressing, and mirin are easier to separate than the ones above mentioned oily materials, while the viscosity sometimes has caused troubles in washing off these materials by water.
- Other products such as beverages, shampoo, detergents, eye lotion, vinegar, soy sauce, sake and beer than the above mentioned oily or viscosity ones may be purified by water, while som of these products contain harmful ingredients such as a detergent which must be neutralized before draining and added high costs to facility and operation. Most of the waste containers have been discarded without recycled, because of these problems caused by the difficulties in washing, added high costs in facility and operation, and waste of a large amount of water and energy resources.
- US 5,375, 778 relates to a process for recovering and granulating resin materials from waste containers made of resin materials with plastic film wrapped around said container in which the resin material is first chipped or granulated and then the small pieces of granulate material and plastic film are separated by applying a wind force.
- EP 0,492,043 relates to a process of recovering and granulating plastic materials from articles made of plastic materials with paper labels wrapped around said container in which first the articles are immersed in hot water while being agitated, then injecting steam against the paper labels on the plastic articles to release the paper labels from bodies of the plastic articles, next breaking the detached paper labels and plastic articles into fragments and further separating the plastic portion by flying sorting to remove residual paper labels.
- The present invention is to solve these problems providing a method for separating and removing foreign objects such as the residual content, mud, soil, sand and dirt from the containers to be treated, efficiently recycling and granulating the resin materials into a specific range of size, in a relatively simple manner.
- The present invention is to solve these problems, providing a method according to claim 1.
- According to preferred embodiments, the process may further comprise the following steps:
- a process to shred waste containers with printed plastic films into small pieces to be treated 82; a process to separate and remove the film by a sucking force of wind;
- a process to apply an impact-grinding force to separate foreign objects from
the resin material, granulate the resin material as recovered resin materials; and preferably
further comprising:
- a process to crush the container into the coarsely crushed
pieces 81 before the shredding process into a plurality of crushedpieces 81; and preferably further including following process: - a process to apply an impact-grinding force and a centrifugal force to the
coarsely crushed
pieces 81 to separate the foreign object from the resin material; and preferably comprising process including following steps in addition to the above process: - a process to shred the coarsely crushed
pieces 81 into small pieces to be treated 82; and preferably further comprising: - an object is container made of thermoplastic resin materials coupled with a
skirt underneath; by applying an impact-grinding force to said shredded small pieces to
be treated composed of a main body and a skirt to separate foreign objects and to
clean and dry; further by applying said impact-grinding force to further pulverize for
granulation said skirt to collect the resin material as recovered resin materials, and to
separate and classify the granulated resin materials of said main body; and preferably
further comprising:
- said object is container made of thermoplastic resin materials coupled with a flanged screw portion;
- by applying an impact-grinding force on shredded pieces of said main body and screw portion to separate foreign objects, to granulate, clean and dry said resin materials; the resin material of said flanged screw portion is separated by specific-gravity selection in a water; and the resin materials of said main body and said flanged screw portion are recovered separately as recovered resin material.
-
- The objects and advantages of the invention will become understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals designate like elements, and in which:
- FIG. 1 is a systematic illustration of embodiment 1, showing a fundamental principle of the process of this invention for recycling and granulating the resin material. The object waste containers processed by the method of this embodiment basically include the container without a skirt nor other accessories, the container with a skirt and other accessories such as a cap and a screw portion, and without a label having printed layer such as trademarks etc., however, made of the same type of resin as the main body of the container;
- FIG. 2 is a systematic illustration of embodiment 2, showing a fundamental principle of the process of this invention for recycling and granulating the resin materials. The waste resinous containers processed by the method of this embodiment basically are the waste containers excluding those in embodiment 1, such as those with a cap, a screw portion, a main body, and a skirt, at least one of which is made of a different type of resin material, as well as those with labels;
- FIG. 3 is a conceptual and schematic representation of each process of crushing and wind- force separation;
- FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a vertical sectional view of a device used in other embodiments of the crushing process;
- FIG. 5 is an illustrated systematic processes for shredding, cleaning, drying, separation, classification, and granulation;
- FIG. 6 is an entire diagonal view of a cutter mill (shredder) used in the shredding process of this invention;
- FIG. 7 is an illustrated vertical section of a polishing/granulating device used in the same embodiment ;
- FIG. 8 is a front view to explain the polishing/granulating/size- regulation functions shown in FIG. 7;
- FIG. 9 is a diagonal view outlining a separator used in cleaning/ separafion/granulation/size- regulation of this invention; and
- FIG. 10 is a whole view showing main parts of the device of this invention,separating materials by specific-gravity difference.
-
- In the mode of embodying the present invention, waste PE bottle used for oily products such as tem-pura oil, sesame oil, and salad oil was taken up, which products are the most difficult to separate and granulate; and as long as the method of this invention can separate and remove these oily products to recycle and granulate the resin material, other containers used for other products than the foregoing are easier to handle. Thus, all the waste PE bottles for viscous liquid products such as Worcester sauce, dressing, and mirin as well as for various products such as beverages, shampoo, detergents, eye lotion, vinegar, soy sauce, and beer can also be the object of waste containers.
- The resin materials of the object waste containers include polyethylene (PE), polyester (PET), and poly(vinyl chloride) (rigid PVC). A residual content as well as foreign matters such as mud, soil, sand, and dirt are remaining on the surfaces of these bottles.
- The bottles have various shapes and structures, and are made of various types of resin materials. Types of the waste containers include:
- (1) bottles with or without a skirt underneath
- (2) bottles with a cap made of metal or plastic on top
- (3) bottles with a screw portion to tighten the cap, the main body, and a skirt, which are made of either different resin materials or the same resin.
- (4) resin materials is transparent or colored
-
- In the mode of embodying the present invention most efficiently, it is preferable to use the optimized processing conditions and/or to select the optimum combination of the processes according to the types of residual content and resin materials used in various parts of the bottle.
- Basically, the object waste bottle of FIG. 1 is a bottle without a skirt nor a printed label showing trademarks and etc.; and a bottle with a skirt and without a printed label wherein the cap, the screw portion, the main body, and the skirt are made of the same resin material. The cap is removed from the bottle and is discarded if it is made of metal, most of the residual content is discarded, and the cap, the screw portion, the main body, and the skirt are processed together through sorting, crushing, shredding, cleaning, separating, classifying, and granulating processes if all these parts are made of the same resin material.
- As an embodiment, a recycling method and processes for recycling PE from PE bottle are explained below referring to FIG. 1; wherein the residual content is salad oil.
- Bottles are sorted according to the resin types, PE, PET, or PVC in this process (FIG. 1 shows PE and PET only, but the object resin materials are not confined to these), and also to color/transparency.
- Colored containers should preferably be further classified into different colors.
- The PE bottles classified as above Sorting process are shredded or crushed in a broader sense into coarsely crushed
pieces 81 using a crushing means 110 shown in FIG. 2. A preferable size of the coarsely crushed pieces obtained is, for example, 15 mm X 50 mm. - The crushing means is to crush the object to be crushed into pieces of a suitable size, and is called a " crusher" in this embodiment FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of this "crusher".
-
Crusher 110 has an upper feeding inlet port to feed the material, two parallel counter-rotating axis in the main body of the crusher, a plurality of rotary blades at a specified interval on each axis, three fixed blades intermeshing with the rotary blades at the circumferential loci and inclined by the same angle. These fixed and rotary blades shreds the bottle into coarsely crushed pieces of a suitable size. - The waste bottle is fed from the inlet port, the rotary blades push the waste bottle inward by the intermeshing blades which shred the bottle continuously by a shearing force, a compressing force generated between the the intermeshing blades crushes and shreds the bottle into coarsely crushed
pieces 81. Residual salad oil is still stuck to the surface of the coarsely crushedpieces 81. - The crushing means used in this invention is not confined to those mentioned above; e.g., other crushing means such as Gynax-Crusher manufactured by Horai Ltd., Roll-Crusher by Nara Machine Works, Ltd., as well as other crushing means such as mono-cutters, shredders, and other types of crusher can be used.
- As shown in FIG. 4, the crushing means has two
crushers 110 placed at two stages, upper and lower, to crush the object twice increasing the capacity greatly and decreasing the processing time. More details are explained in the embodiment associated with FIG. 2. - This process can be omitted when waste container to be objected used only for an oily product, a viscous fluid, and other type of liquid and may be applied if required. Coarsely crushed
pieces 81 produced in the crushing process are further shredded smaller into small pieces to be treated 82 using a shredder shown in FIG's 5 and 6. Small pieces to be treated 82 is, for example, a long square of approximately 2 mm X 15 mm, a square of approximately 10mm X 10 mm, or a pieces with no specific shape with a side of approximately 10 mm or smaller. At this point, residual salad oil is still on the surface of the small pieces to be treated 82 as well as the above mentioned crushing process. - The shredding means is to shred the coarsely crushed
pieces 81 into small pieces to be treated 82, and is conveniently called a "cutter-mill" in this embodiment. The cutter-mill 120 has an inlet port to feed the coarsely crushedpieces 81, a cutter-supporter with rotary blades on its circumference, and a fixed blade in the main body with a suitable clearance from the rotary blades. More details of cutter-mill 120 are explained in the embodiment associated with FIG. 2. - The clearance used in this embodiment is 0.2 through 0.3 mm. The coarsely crushed
pieces 81 which are crushed by the above mentionedcrusher 110 into a size of 15 mm x 50 mm are fed to the inlet port of cutter-mill 120 and shredded between the rotary and the fixed blades and almost all pieces are granulated and size-regulated into a size of approximately 2 mm x 15mm with unspecified shapes and areas, which can pass through the screen. Then, the small pieces to be treated 82 are discharged from the outlet port to transfer to the next process. - An impact-grinding force and a centrifugal force are applied to the coarsely crushed
pieces 81 crushed by the above crushing means or the small pieces to be treated 82 shredded in the Shredding process as required. According to the present mode of embodiment in shredding the crushedpiece 81 into the small pieces to be treated 82, a grinding force and an impact force, mainly the latter impact force separates a part of the residual salad oil or other foreign objects on the surface of the coarsely crushedpieces 81, and further a centrifugal force readily separates the residual salad oil from the coarsely crushedpieces 81. The impact force exerted onto the coarsely crushedpieces 81 accelerates the separation of the residual salad oil, while the impact force controls the centrifugal force on thesame resin piece 81 to a certain extent. On the other hand, the centrifugal force on the residual salad oil are hardly controlled and thrown away the salad oil more rapidly outward and then, easy separation and cleaning are facilitated. Further, the friction heat generated by the impact force increases the temperature of the residual salad oil to further accelerates the separation. In case a combination of an impact force and a grinding force crushes the coarsely crushedpieces 81, and also accelerates separation of the residual salad oil and a centrifugal force pushes out the residual salad oil from the coarsely crushedpieces 81. The coarsely crushedpieces 81 of PE bottles are centrifuged at 1600 through 1800 rpm for about 10 through 12 minutes. The coarsely crushedpieces 81 are crushed by a combination of an impact force and a grinding force into small spheres having a diameter of about 1 through 4 mm, which are further granulated and size- regulated, and polished into uniform grains. PE resin naturally forms spheres when an impact-grinding force is applied to PE bottle. Foreign objects other than oily products are separated from PE bottle coarsely crushed pieces by applying a centrifugal force at a revolution speed of 800 through 900 rpm for 5 through 6 minutes, and the pieces are granulated and size- regulated, and the grains are polished into a uniform size. Residual oily products were insufficiently separated by a centrifugation for 5 through 6 minutes, while they could be efficiently separated by a prolonged centrifugation. - Incidentally, a batch size depended on the revolution speed, presence of air, and temperature. According to the present embodiment, a 60 kg batch was processed for 10 minutes, and the final level of the residual salad oil was decreased to 0.1 percent by weight after granulation, polishing and recovered. This level is sufficiently low and without a problem because, usually, an oily material of that level is added to PE resin together with fillers when the resin is actually processed.
- When an impact-grinding force and a centrifugal force is applied to the coarsely crushed
pieces 81 and small pieces to be treated 82 , a compressed air of approximately 5 kg/cm2 should preferably be blasted onto these coarsely crushed pieces to facilitate separation of the residual oily product. More preferably, the compressed air should be preheated to increase the efficiently. - The means for cleaning/separation/classification/granulation separates and removes the foreign objects from the coarsely crushed
pieces 81 and small pieces to be treated 82 ; and crushes, cleans, and granulates the resin material from the main body of the waste container; and polishes to recycle the resin material. The means is conveniently called a "separator" in this embodiment. - Referring to FIG's 7 and 8,
separator 130 has aninlet port 132 to feed the coarsely crushedpieces 81 and small pieces to be treated 82 (hereinafter explained as the small pieces to be treated 82) at the center of a fixeddisk 131; thefixed end plate 133 faces the fixeddisk 131 with aprocessing space 155 between them; and thecircumferential side plate 135 fixes the circumferential fringes of thefixed end plates 133 to the fixeddisk 131. Theprocessing space 155 has amovable disk 141 driven by a horizontalrotary axis 142, and the horizontal rotary axes 142 are supported by the bearings 143,143. The horizontal rotary axes 142 are driven by a rotating means which are not shown. - The fixed pins 134 are placed in a row on concentric loci a (FIG. 8, relative to the mobile disk 141) on the fixed
disk 131; themobile pins 144 are placed alternately on different loci b from the loci of the fixed pins on themobile disk 141; and the fixedpins 134 and themobile pins 144 are positioned to generate an impact-grinding force between the two types of pins, which forces are used to crush and polish the small pieces to be treated. Ascreen 151 with punched holes of a specified size is put on the circumferential side of themobile disk 141, thedischarge space 156 separates the screen from thecircumferential side plate 135, and thedischarge port 152 is positioned under thedischarge space 156. Ablower 157 is positioned at theoutlet port 152 as shown in FIG. 7. The mesh size of thescreen 151 in this embodiment is 1 mm in diameter, while a screen size of not larger than 1 mm is normally preferable, and 0.7 mm is the most preferable. - An
outlet port 153 is positioned in the lower part of thescreen 151, and aplug valve 154 is placed at theoutlet port 153 to control the opening. A communicatingblower 158 is placed in theoutlet port 153 as shown in FIG. 1 to suck the air in theseparator 130, theoutlet port 153 is connected to theinlet port 132 through theblower 158. - With an increased clearance between the
fixed pins 134 and the mobile pins144, the grinding force on the small pieces to be treated 82 is decreased, while an decreased clearance increases the grinding force. A liquid foreign object on the small pieces to be treated 82 requires an adjustment of clearance to decrease the grinding force and to increase the impact. The clearance should also be adjusted according to the grain size of the recovered resin materials to be polished and size-regulated. - Referring to the
separator 130, themobile disk 141 is rotated with the horizontalrotary axis 142 by means of an unillustrated driving means, and the small pieces to be treated 82 fed from theinlet port 132 are crushed, polished, and granulated and size- regulated in a center portion of a processing area155; and approach the circumferential side by the impact-grinding force generated between thefixed pins 134 and the mobile pins 144. During this process, the impact applied on the small pieces to be treated 82 accelerates the separation of the residual salad oil, which is pushed outside by the centrifugal force, the impact force controlling the centrifugal force on small pieces to be treated only. The friction heat generated by the impact-grinding force increases the temperature of the salad oil on the surface of the small pieces to be treated 82, which further facilitates the separation. PE of PE bottle naturally forms spheres as its property, which are polished into a granules having diameters of about 1 through 4 mm. The separated salad oil and a part of the small pieces to be treated 82 pass thescreen 151 pushed by the centrifugal force generated by themobile pins 144, are classified in thedischarge space 156, and are sucked and discharged through theoutlet port 152 by the blower 157 (FIG. 5). - On the other hand, the granulated and size-regulated
resin materials 83 remains on thescreen 151 as larger spheres. Some salad oil still remains on the largergranulated resin materials 83, and some salad oil separated from the small pieces to be treated 82 sticks to thegranulated resin materials 83 when the latter passes through the screen. With theplug valve 154 open, thedischarge port 153 and theinlet port 132 are communicated through the blower 158 (FIG. 5); thegranulated resin materials 83 taken out of theoutlet port 153 is returned to theinlet port 132; and the recoveredgranulated resin materials 83 is crushed, polished, and granulated and size-regulated again. Thesalad oil 84 remaining on thegranulated resin materials 83 are separated by a centrifugal force, the recrushed granulated resin materials passes through thescreen 151, and are discharged through thedischarge port 152. Although thegranulated resin materials 83 are returned to the inlet port, the most part thereof remains on thescreen 151 without being crushed into smaller ones to pass the screen. The cleaning/separating/classifying/granulation processes can be repeated until the salad oil on small pieces to be treated 82 in the batch is completely separated and discharged through the discharge port. - The recycled PE resin in the form of granulated and size-regulated grains are taken out through the
outlet port 153 by opening theplug valve 154. - In place of or in addition to the
blower 158, compressed air can be introduced into theprocessing space 155 of theseparator 130, and the largegranulated resin materials 83, which remain on thescreen 151, can be returned to the inlet port through a hole on thefixed end plate 133 and the pipe. - The recycled resin material can be raked out from the outlet port, or can be automatically collected in the
collecting tank 240 as shown in FIG. 9. The latter case is explained in the next embodiment. - Referring to FIG. 9, two
separators separator inlet port feeding tube separators separator 230a only.Separator 230a connects theoutlet port 153 for the resin material with the feedingport 132 through the communicatingpipe 235, and connects the piping 236 from the unillustrated compression air supply source with the outlet port side of the communicatingpipe 235. A flow-regulating plate is placed at the communicating portion of the piping 236 to make the compressed air flow mainly toward theinlet port 132. The communicatingpipe 235 is branched on the side ofinlet ports branch pipe 237 is attached to communicate with therecovery tank 240; and a three-way solenoid valve 238 is placed to switch the rout at pre-determined time using a timer at the branch point of the branch pipe. Thedischarge port separator tank 250 through thedischarge pipe 239; the foreign object passing through the screen 151 (FIG. 7) can be sucked by theblower 157 placed in thedischarge pipe 239 to discharge to thecollecting tank 250. - The
separators pipe 235 is opened by the three-way solenoid valve 238 and the branch pipe side is closed; compressed air is fed from the piping 236 to the communicatingpipe 235; and thus a circulating air stream generates pressure in the communicatingpipe 235, theinlet port 132, theprocessing space 155, theoutlet port 153, and again in the communicatingpipe 235 in succession. When a batch of the coarsely crushed pieces 81 (or small pieces to be treated 82) is fed to theinlet port feed pipe separator screen 151 by theblower 157 and is discharged to thecollecting tank 250. On the other hand, thegranulated resin materials 83 remaining on thescreen 151 in a form of granules are sucked to the communicatingpipe 235 by a circulating air stream, sent to theprocessing space 155 again, processed in theseparators pipe 235 is closed by the solenoid valve and the branch pipe side is opened, and thus thegranulated resin materials 83 on thescreen 151 is collected to therecovery tank 240 through the communicatingpipe 235 and thebranch pipe 237. - In place of the three-
way solenoid valve 238, regular solenoid valves can be placed in thebranch pipe 237 and on the the downstream side of the communicatingpipe 235 to open and close alternately. - The explanation above is for an embodiment using two separators, while the process can also be designed in the same way using a single separator.
- As an example, 6 kg of PE small pieces to be treated 82 is fed to
separator 130 having the structure as mentioned above, and themobile disk 141 is rotated at 1750 rpm with an A.C. frequency of 60 Hz. Then, the small pieces to be treated 82 were processed intogranulated resin materials 83 in a form of spherical granules of around 1 through 2 mm in diameter, polished, and granulated and size-regulated. Residual salad oil in this granulated and size-regulated PE resin material was no more than 0.1 percent by weight. - When the containers used for oils and viscous fluids are processed, the rotating speed of the
mobile disk 141 should be decreased not to polish and size-regulate the PE resin excessively into a fine powder. The rotating speed of themobile disk 141 should be kept as low as possible within a range that can keep the granule size of PE larger than the mesh of thescreen 151, since the oil and the viscous fluid are ejected outward faster than the small pieces to be treated 82 even with a decreased speed of themobile disk 141. - As another waste containers to be objected, an embodiment for recovering PET resin materials from polyester (PET) waste bottles with some residual salad oil is explained according to FIG. 1. Explanation on the processes common to PE are omitted for simplification.
- Metal caps are removed from the waste bottles, the residual product in the bottles was discarded; and the waste bottles are subjected to sorting, crushing, shredding, and cleaning/separation/classification/granulation.
- The sorted bottles are shredded or in a broader sense crushed using the
crusher 110 as shown in FIG. 2 into pieces of, for embodiment , 15 mm X 50 mm (coarsely crushed pieces 81). - The coarsely crushed
pieces 81 obtained by the above crushing process are further shredded smaller, if required, as shown in FIG. 5, using acutter mill 120 as a shredding means into small pieces to be treated 82: long squares of 2 mm X 15 mm, squares of 10mm X 10 mm, or unspecified shapes of 10 mm or smaller. - Using
separator 130 as shown in FIG's 7 and 8, an impact-grinding force is applied to the coarsely crushedpieces 81 in the Crushing process or small pieces to be treated 82 (as required in the Shredding process) to separate and remove foreign objects; to crush, clean, and granulate thereof; and to polish, size-regulate, and collect the granules. Functions of each process is the same as explained above embodiment for treatment of PE bottles. - The
separator 130 used in the present embodiment has ascreen 151 having mesh of 0.6 through 0.8 mm in diameter, conditions of the centrifuge were 900 through 1200 rpm and around 10 through 12 minutes per batch; thus the coarsely crushedpieces 81 or small pieces to be treated 82 were crushed, granulated and size-regulated, and polished into granules of unspecified shapes having a size of around 1 through 3 mm. PET bottles were processed for a longer time with a lower rotation speed to separate the oily foreign object from the coarsely crushedpieces 81 or small pieces to be treated 82. PET bottles does not naturally form spheres as in the case of PE when an impact-grinding force is applied. The residual salad oil in the recycled PET resin was no more than 0.1 percent by weight. - In the embodiments above, PE and PET bottles were taken up as major resin materials for bottles, while other resin materials such as polycarbonate and poly(vinyl chloride) can also be recycled as granulated resin materials.
- Also in the embodiments above, salad oil was taken up as a residual foreign object, while other oils such as tem-pura oil and sesame oil can also be treated in the same way. Foreign objects other than oils include viscous fluids such as Worcester sauce, dressing, and mirin; various products such as beverages, shampoo, detergents, eye lotion, vinegar, soy sauce, sake, and beer; and the waste containers for these products can more easily be recycled as granules the residual contents of which are separated and removed; the process can be more easily carried out than in the case of oily products which already have been proved to be separable and removable from the waste containers. Further, other foreign objects such as mud, soil, sand, and dirt can also be easily separated and removed by the method of the present invention.
- Grinding and impact forces (especially the latter) combined with a centrifugal force push out the foreign objects in the following order: air, water, lower viscosity fluids, higher viscosity fluids, solid wastes such as mud and soil, oily foreign objects (highly viscous fluids), and coarsely crushed pieces or small pieces to be treated. The difference in speed of pushing out easily cause the separation of the foreign objects.
- FIG. 2 is a systematic illustration of a process for the waste bottles other than the object of FIG. 1. However, FIG. 2 becomes FIG.1 with some unnecessary steps omitted; thus FIG. 2 can be a systematic illustration of all the processes including FIG. 1. In the mode of embodying the present invention, it is preferable to use an optimized conditions and an optimized combination of processes according to the types of residual content and resin.
- Referring to FIG. 2, the object waste container is a bottle with other accessories such as a cap, a screw portion, and a skirt, at least one of which is made of a resin material different from that of the main body; and also a bottle with a label; thus a PET bottle for a carbonated beverage is taken up as an example.
- This PET bottle has accessories such as a skirt, a screw portion to tighten the cap, and a label which are made of other types of resin such as PP and PE. According to the present invention, this bottle can be processed without removing these accessories. The bottle is adhered or contaminated with the residual content, mud, soil,sand, and dirt.
- A method to recycle resin materials such as PET, PP, and PVC is explained below.
- As shown in FIG. 2, the metal cap is removed from the bottle consisting of a cap screw portion, the main body, and a label, and the residual content is discarded. Then, the bottle goes through a series of processes comprising sorting, crushing, window-force classification, shredding, cleaning/drying, separation/classification/granulation; and/or specific-gravity selection; as well as dehydration as required.
- This process is the same as in FIG. 1, which was explained earlier. The bottles are sorted into those made of various types of resin material such as PET and PVC (only PET and PVC are described in FIG. 2, while the scope of this embodiment is not confined to these resin materials only), transparent and colored bottles, and bottles with or without skirts. Colored bottles should preferably be further sorted into different colors.
- The screw portion and/or the skirt (the latter includes a part of the main body) can be cut off the main body of the bottle (hereinafter called a "bottle main body" ) to be processed independently.
- Normally, various parts of PVC bottles, including the screw portion for the cap, are made of a single resin material. Also, since the PVC bottles are not used for carbonated beverages, they do not have skirts. Most bottles have screw portions. For an efficient processing, the bottles should be sorted into different types of resin materials first, then into transparent and colored. Further, in the case of PET bottles, they are only sorted into bottles with and without skirts.
- The waste bottles are crushed or shredded by means of a crushing means 110 into coarsely crushed
pieces 81 of 15 mm X 50 mm as shown in FIG. 3. - The crushing means used is the
crusher 110, which is the same as thecrusher 110 in FIG. 3 which was used in the embodiment associated with FIG. 1. At this point, the coarsely crushedpieces 81 was black affected by the color of the foreign object. - As shown in FIG. 4, the crushing means used had two crushers, upper and lower. Crusher 210a has a horizontal axis and
crusher 210b has an axis inclined by 45 degrees, which greatly increases the processing capacity and minimizes the processing time. - It is preferable to place a
grinder 211 under the housing ofcrusher 110; i.e, thegrinder 211 easily grinds the shredded waste container into coarsely crushedpieces 81, and facilitates to remove small stones and sand in the bottles. Anet conveyor 212 having a band net inclined by approximately 45 degrees is placed under thegrinder 211 to screen off small stones and sand contained in the coarsely crushedpieces 81. More preferably, amagnetic selector 213 is placed under the tip of the movingnet conveyor 212 to sort metal caps and rusted iron pieces contained in the coarsely crushedpieces 81. Further, the coarsely crushedpieces 81 free of metal and iron rust passes through arotary screen 215 to separate foreign matters such as minute stones, sand, and metal powders. - This process is to separate printed labels from the coarsely crushed pieces . The crushed polystyrene labels printed on its surface, which had been wrapped around PET bottles, are sucked by a
blower 33 equipped with acyclone 31. A sucking wind-force selector 30 capable of treating 200 through 500 kg/h of resin materials is used to suck the printed labels crushed in the previous process to separate them from the coarsely crushedpieces 81 of the crushed main body of container(FIG. 3). - The coarsely crushed
pieces 81, composed of the crushed main body of bottles from which labels have been separated, are further shredded into small pieces to be treated 82, for example, long squares of 2 mm X 15 mm; squares of 10mm X 10 mm; or into unspecified shapes of a size not larger than 10 mm. At this point, the foreign object still remains on the surfaces of small pieces to be treated 82. - The shredding means is to shred the coarsely crushed
pieces 81 into small pieces to be treated82, and is called a "cutter mill" for convenience in the present embodiment . - FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a
cutter mill 120. - The
main body 121 of the cutter mill is a cylindrical casing having an opening on the top. The opening is covered with alid 122, which can be freely opened and closed. Thelid 122 has aninlet port 123 to feed the coarsely crushedpieces 81 into themain body 121 of the cutter mill. - Inside the
main body 121 of the cutter mill, a cutter-supporter 124 is placed, which is supported on the bottom of themain body 121 of the cutter mill and is rotated horizontally by means of an unillustrated driving means; thecutter supporter 124 has three verticallylong rotary blades 125 on its circumference; the threerotary blades 125 are placed on thecutter supporter 124 so as to make the same angle, 120 degrees, against the rotating direction; and the tips of the threerotary blades 125 are positioned on the same rotating locus. Against the threerotary blades 125, two fixedblades 126 are placed on the interior wall of the main body of the cutter mill at a symmetrical positions of the loci of and a small clearance from therotary blades 125. Further, the two fixedblades 126, the cutter-supporter 124, and therotary blades 125 divide the main body of the cutter mill into two parts, forming thefeeding chamber 127 and the shreddingchamber 128. Theinlet port 123 with thelid 122 communicates with thefeeding chamber 127. The clearance between the two fixedblades 126 and therotary blades 125 can be adjusted freely to shred the object material into a specified size. The clearance used in this embodiment is 0.2 through 0.3 mm. Themesh screen 129 divides the shreddingchamber 128 between the two fixedblades 126 and to surround the locus of therotary blades 125. Thescreen 129 is a mesh, through which the small pieces to be treated 82 of approximately 10 mm can pass. There is provided a discharge port to discharge the small pieces to be treated 82 at the bottom of themain body 121 of the shreddingchamber 128. - The coarsely crushed
pieces 81, crushed by thecrusher 110 in the crushing process of process 1 and having a size of approximately 15 mm X 50 mm are fed through theinlet port 123 with alid 122 of thecutter mill 120; the coarsely crushedpieces 81 is shredded between therotary blades 125 on the cutter-supporter 124 and the fixedblades 126 by rotating the cutter-supporter 124 by means of an unillustrated driving means; most of the shredded resin pieces go through thescreen 129 to give small pieces to be treated 82 having shapes of long squares of approximately 2 x 15 mm, squares of approximately 10 x 10 mm, or unspecified shapes not larger than 10 mm in a side length; and the small pieces to be treated 82 go out of the discharge port to be transferred to the next process. - The shredding means is not confined to the cutter mill mentioned above; e.g., "Hard-crusher" manufactured by Horai, Ltd. can also be used wherein the rotary axis for the
rotary blades 125 is horizontal, and thescreen 129 between the two fixed blades is at the bottom. At this point, the surface of the first-coarsely crushedpieces 81 are opaque and light-black with foreign matters on the surface partly removed. - Preferably, before or after the Wind force separation process or the above Shredding process, crushed pieces of resin materials may be dried in a known drier having a screen in order to classify or separating rain water, dew, mud, soil, sand, and dirt clung adhering thereto before the following Cleaning and drying process.
- Foreign matters 84 such as mud, soil, sand, metals, pieces of glass, dirt are removed from the surfaces of the shredded small pieces to be treated 82 in the above shredding process, which are squares or of unspecified shapes of approximately 10 mm in a side length, by an impact-grinding force; then the small pieces to be treated are cleaned and dried by the friction heat generated by the impact-grinding force on the small pieces to be treated. The small pieces to be treated 82 are processed at 800 through 900 rpm for approximately 5 minutes.
- When the whole bottle is made of PVC including a screw portion, and when the bottle is made of PET without a skirt, the following separation, classification, and granulation processes can be carried out in succession for recovering PET or PVC.
- These processes typically are to process a bottle after cutting off a skirt from the main body, or to process the main body of a bottle together with a skirt; i.e., an impact-grinding force is applied to small pieces to be treated 82 to crush them into smaller pieces of unspecified shapes, 1 through 2 mm in a side length, after the cleaning/drying process; PP constituting the skirt is separated from the small pieces to be treated 82, polished, and granulated and size-regulated. At the same time, PET constituting the main body of a bottle is pulverized and separated by applying an impact-grinding force, the mixture is classified, and PP of the skirt is recycled as resin materials.
PET is used for fillers such as an aggregate for construction works, and PP is used for various molded goods. The process is carried out at 1500 through 1800 rpm and in approximately 3 through 4 minutes. - The 2nd process mentioned above can be repeated as required.
- Cleaning/drying and separation/classification/granulation are the processes which can be carried out in a single device. The small pieces to be treated 82 of the main body are cleaned, dried, crushed, polished, and granulated and size-regulated. PET is further crushed into a fine powder, and PP is separated from the main body, classified, and granulated and size-regulated. In this embodiment ,
separator 130 shown in FIG's 7 and 8 was combined with the cleaning/drying means. Theseparator 130 was explained referring to the illustration associated with FIG. 1; accordingly, the explanation is simplified by limiting it to those required here. - PVC bottles should preferably be sorted into each ones those having different colors; and then by a rotation of an unillustrated horizontal
rotary axis 142 rotates themobile disk 141, the small pieces to be treated 82 are fed from theinlet port 132 to be crushed, polished, and granulated and size-regulated by the impact-grinding force generated between the fixed and the mobile pins at the center of theprocessing space 155. Thus the small pieces to be treated receive a centrifugal force together with the effects of polishing, granulating and impact-grinding force to approach the circumferential side. In the course of this process, PET from the main body of a bottle is crushed into pieces of unspecified shapes not larger than 1 mm; the foreign objects are removed from thedischarge port 152, which will be explained later, by means of the first separator. A part of the crushed main body of bottles in the mixture passes through thescreen 151 with a centrifugal force generated by themobile pins 144, classified in thedischarge space 156, and are sucked and discharged into outside from thedischarge port 152 through theblower 157. - In the case of the main body of bottles with skirts, materials excluding foreign objects remain on the
screen 151 as in the second separator, are taken out from theoutlet port 153, and are fed to the second separator. The second separator processes, polishes, and granulates the materials into spheres of approximately 1 mm in diameter, or into rectangular or cylindrical shapes of approximately 2 through 5 mm in a side length, or into other shapes. In the course of this process, some resin materials in the small pieces to be treated 82 are partially pulverized into a fine powder of an unspecified shape. - During processing by the second separator, the polished and granulated resin material and a part of PP from the skirt remains on the
screen 151, which are returned to theinlet port 132 together with the materials discharged from theoutlet port 153, because theoutlet port 153 and theinlet port 132 being communicated together through the openedplug valve 154, and then the crushed resin material of the main body is pulverized to pass thescreen 151 and is discharged through thedischarge port 152. Most part, however, of the granulated resin material, which has not been sufficiently polished and granulated and size-regulated into fine granules, remains on thescreen 151. - Granules of PP as granulated resin materials are taken out through the
outlet port 153 with the plug valve open. The same device as in the embodiment associated with FIG. 1 is also applied to take out granulated PP resin in this embodiment. - Colors of the recycled resin materials were affected by those of the respective parts of bottles; i.e., PP from the skirt had a color of the skirt, and PET from the main body of bottles had colors of the main body; or was almost transparent, translucent and colorless, light-white, or was light-yellow in case transparent waste bottles are treated.
- As an example,
experimental separators 130 having a structure mentioned earlier was used; 600 g of the small pieces to be treated 82 were fed to the first separator; themobile disk 141 was rotated at 900 rpm; thus PET and some PP could be separated, and PP could be recovered from the second separator after a processing for 3 minutes at 1800 rpm. - This process is to obtain a higher-grade resin materials. When the material of a screw portion of the bottle (e.g., PP or PE) is different from that of the main body, specific-gravity selection of the screw portion resin in water is inserted instead of or after separation, classification, and granulation process, which follow the process for cleaning/drying in the second separator. Thus the screw portion resin is separated, and the resin material of the main body only can be recycled.
- The mixture of resin materials after the cleaning/drying process is put into water; then light-weight PP becomes afloat and heavier PET or PVC precipitates. A liquid-cyclone separates PP from the other material, and the main resin material is recovered through a dehydration process.
- The liquid-
cyclone 10, as an example shown in FIG. 10, feeds the material into theinlet port 19, where water (20 t/h) and a process fluid (150 kg/h) including resin materials after above process is pushed into thecyclone 10. The mixed fluid forms a whirl-stream flowing down along the wall of theupper cyclone 16. This whirl-stream collects large specific gravity PET or PVC at the circumferential wall, pushes it down, and transfer to thelower cyclone 17 through theopening 20. PET or PVC moved to the upper part of the circumferential wall are taken out through thedischarge port 25. The small specific gravity PP is collected at the center by another stream generated by the whirl-stream, and is taken out through thedischarge pipe 18. Fluids are taken out through theoutlet port 24, and the precipitates are taken out through theoutlet port 26. - Explanations have been made for PET and PVC bottles only, while other granulated resin materials such as polyethylene and polycarbonate can be recovered in the same manner.
- The processes of this invention sometimes can be reversed or omitted according to the conditions of the collected PET or PVC bottles including the extent of contamination, other than shredding and cleaning/drying processes.
- The recycled granulated resin material of the present invention can be fed directly into an extruder to produce the products such as polyester fiber and polyester cotton or to produce pellets which are another form of resin materials. Also a virgin material of the same resin materials can be blended such as virgin PVC and recovered granulated and size-regulated PVC. Further, A synthetic wood board can be produced from the pellets blended with a dried wood powder in a extruder.
- The present invention is so constituted as explained above, and has the effects described below.
- By using a relatively simple and easy means, foreign objects were separated and removed from the object waste containers by applying a impact-grinding force; i.e., the resin material was efficiently and granulated and size-regulated into an appropriate range of grain size for reuse. Further, the resin materials constituting the container for oily products, which are the most difficult substances to be processed for recovering, could be efficiently recovered, and granulated and size-regulated into a required range of grain size for reuse, wherein combination of an impact-grinding force and a centrifugal force was applied, the combination having a synergetic effect which further facilitated separation and removal of oily foreign objects from the waste containers which was constituted with the same resin materials.
- For the reason mentioned above, a large quantity of water and a large scale of facility, conventionally used for cleaning the waste containers, could be omitted; i.e., the present invention contributes to saving cost and resources.
- In particular, the process of the present invention can eliminate the use of a cleaning chemical fluid to separate the foreign objects such as oily materials used with or without water, preventing the contamination of rivers with the cleaning drain and saving the cost for the facility and operation.
-
- 81
- Coarsely crushed pieces
- 82
- Small pieces to be treated
- 83
- granulated resin material
- 84
- Foreign object
- 110
- Crusher
- 120
- Cutter mill (Shredder)
- 121
- Main body of cutter mill
- 122
- Lid
- 123
- Inlet port
- 124
- Cutter supporter
- 125
- Rotary blade
- 126
- Fixed blade
- 127
- Feeding chamber
- 128
- Shredding chamber
- 129
- Screen
- 130
- Polishing,separating,classifying and granulating apparatus (Separator)
- 131
- Fixed disk
- 132
- Feeding inlet
- 133
- Fixed end plate
- 134
- Fixed pin
- 151
- Screen
- 152
- Discharge port
- 153
- Outlet port
- 154
- Plug-valve
- 155
- Processing space
- 156
- Discharge space
- 157
- Blower
- 158
- Blower
- 210a, 210b
- Crusher
- 211
- Shredder (Cutter Mill)
- 212
- Net conveyer
- 213
- Magnetic selector
- 230a, 230b
- Separator
- 231a, 231b
- Feeding pipe
- 235
- Communicating pipe
- 236
- Piping
- 237
- Branch pipe
- 238
- Three-way solenoid valve
- 239
- Discharge pipe
- 240
- recovery tank
- 250
- Collecting tank
Claims (6)
- A method for recovering and granulating resin materials by separating foreign objects from waste containers made of resin thermoplastic materials with a printed plastic film wrapped around said container, comprising at least the steps of:coarsely crushing said container into coarsely crushed pieces,applying a wind-force to coarsely crushed pieces of said container to separate and remove said plastic film from said coarsely crushed pieces,applying an impact-grinding force using an impact-grinding apparatus comprising fixed and mobile pins which are positioned to create an impact-grinding force between them on said coarsely crushed pieces of the main body of said container to both separate the resin material from said foreign objects andgranulate the resin material, andrecovering the granulated resin material.
- A method for recovering and granulating resin materials from waste containers made of resin materials according to claim 1 comprising at least the steps of:shredding said coarsely crushed pieces into small pieces to be treated, andremoving separated foreign objects from time to time.
- A method for recovering and granulating resin materials from waste containers made of resin materials according to claim 1 comprising at least the steps of:applying an impact force and a centrifugal force to said coarsely crushed pieces or to said small pieces to be treated to separate said resin material from foreign objects; anda process to granulate resin materials and to recover said resin materials.
- A method for recovering and granulating resin materials from waste containers made of resin materials according to claim 1 in which said object is container made of thermoplastic resin materials coupled with a skirt underneath comprising at least the steps of:applying an impact-grinding force to said shredded small pieces to be treated composed of a main body and a skirt to separate foreign objects and to clean and dry;and applying said impact-grinding force to further pulverize for granulation said skirt to collect the resin material as recovered resin materials, and to separate and classify the granulated resin materials of said main body.
- A method for recovering and granulating resin materials from waste containers made of resin materials according to claim 1 in which said object is container made of thermoplastic resin materials coupled with a flanged screw portion comprising at least the steps of:applying an impact-grinding force on shredded pieces of said main body and screw portion to separate foreign objects, granulating, size-regulating, cleaning and drying said resin materials;separating the resin material of said flanged screw portion by specific-gravity selection in a water, and recovering the resin materials of said main body and said flanged screw portion separately as recovered resin material.
- A method for recovering and granulating resin materials from waste containers made of resin materials according to claim 1 comprising at least the steps of:drying before or after the wind-force separation process or the above shredding process, crushed pieces of resin materials before the cleaning and drying process.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP32427095 | 1995-12-13 | ||
JP324270/95 | 1995-12-13 | ||
JP32427095 | 1995-12-13 |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0779136A2 EP0779136A2 (en) | 1997-06-18 |
EP0779136A3 EP0779136A3 (en) | 1998-07-01 |
EP0779136B1 true EP0779136B1 (en) | 2002-01-16 |
Family
ID=18163939
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP19960119759 Expired - Lifetime EP0779136B1 (en) | 1995-12-13 | 1996-12-10 | Method of recycling and granulating waste container made of resin materials |
Country Status (9)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US5961054A (en) |
EP (1) | EP0779136B1 (en) |
KR (1) | KR100396187B1 (en) |
CN (1) | CN1076264C (en) |
BR (1) | BR9605992A (en) |
CA (1) | CA2192051A1 (en) |
DE (1) | DE69618554T2 (en) |
DK (1) | DK0779136T3 (en) |
TW (1) | TW329401B (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US8080190B2 (en) | 2006-02-02 | 2011-12-20 | Ricoh Company Limited | Method of molding a toner bottle using up to 8-sided recycled flake |
Families Citing this family (42)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP3566348B2 (en) * | 1994-09-20 | 2004-09-15 | アイン・エンジニアリング株式会社 | A method and an apparatus for collecting and granulating a waste resin molded product, and a method for manufacturing a wooden synthetic board using the collected resin material. |
US7014132B2 (en) * | 1996-07-22 | 2006-03-21 | Antoine Vandeputte | Method and plant for separating polymeric materials |
US7172143B2 (en) * | 1996-07-22 | 2007-02-06 | Antoine Vandeputte | Method and plant for separating polymeric materials |
JP4009021B2 (en) * | 1998-06-23 | 2007-11-14 | 賢三 高橋 | Styrofoam gasifier |
JP4365984B2 (en) * | 1999-05-14 | 2009-11-18 | キヤノン株式会社 | Manufacturing method of recycled plastic material |
AT411161B (en) | 1999-09-22 | 2003-10-27 | Bacher Helmut | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR RECYCLING PET GOODS |
US7527745B1 (en) * | 1999-09-24 | 2009-05-05 | Ecolab Inc. | Product stability enhancement with phosphonium salts |
AU2001249216A1 (en) * | 2000-05-12 | 2001-11-26 | Ecolab Inc. | Product stability enhancement with phosphonium salts |
DE60109542T2 (en) * | 2000-09-19 | 2005-09-08 | Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., Minami-Ashigara | Process for the reuse of plastic products and apparatus and process for washing crushed plastics |
KR20030014892A (en) * | 2001-08-13 | 2003-02-20 | 지크로스(주) | Apparatus for clean and dry of vinyl reproducer |
KR100597192B1 (en) * | 2001-12-29 | 2006-07-04 | 정은수 | Waste treatment apparatus |
US6749138B2 (en) * | 2002-03-05 | 2004-06-15 | Phoenix Technologies, L.P. | Granulator |
CN1649673A (en) * | 2002-05-04 | 2005-08-03 | 克里斯托弗·穆特 | Method and device for the treatment of substances or composite materials and mixtures |
DE10308500A1 (en) * | 2003-02-26 | 2004-09-23 | Der Grüne Punkt - Duales System Deutschland Ag | Dry, damage-free removal of labels from hollow plastic products, particularly containers, involves passing containers between a drum and stator where various forces are applied for complete label removal |
TW200535320A (en) * | 2004-03-17 | 2005-11-01 | Premdor International Inc | Wood-plastic composite door jamb and brickmold, and method of making same |
EP1838514B1 (en) * | 2005-01-21 | 2010-12-22 | DSM IP Assets B.V. | Extruder with feed-back means |
FR2888230B1 (en) * | 2005-07-07 | 2007-11-16 | Thermya Sa | PROCESS FOR PRODUCING CARBON POWDER AND INSTALLATION THEREFOR |
US20110263758A1 (en) * | 2007-12-17 | 2011-10-27 | Qinglin Wu | Composites Made of Thermoplastic Polymers, Residual Oil, and Cellulosic Fibers |
TWI412447B (en) * | 2008-02-04 | 2013-10-21 | Univ Chia Nan Pharm & Sciency | Method for recycling disused fishing net |
CA2676961A1 (en) * | 2009-08-26 | 2011-02-26 | Carlo Fascio | Resin pellet from recycled waste |
US10487422B2 (en) | 2012-05-31 | 2019-11-26 | Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation | Methods for manufacturing bulked continuous filament from colored recycled pet |
US8597553B1 (en) | 2012-05-31 | 2013-12-03 | Mohawk Industries, Inc. | Systems and methods for manufacturing bulked continuous filament |
US10695953B2 (en) | 2012-05-31 | 2020-06-30 | Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation | Methods for manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament |
US9630353B2 (en) | 2012-05-31 | 2017-04-25 | Mohawk Industries, Inc. | Method of manufacturing bulked continuous filament |
US10538016B2 (en) | 2012-05-31 | 2020-01-21 | Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation | Methods for manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament |
US9636860B2 (en) | 2012-05-31 | 2017-05-02 | Mohawk Industries, Inc. | Method of manufacturing bulked continuous filament |
US10532495B2 (en) | 2012-05-31 | 2020-01-14 | Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation | Methods for manufacturing bulked continuous filament from recycled PET |
US11045979B2 (en) | 2012-05-31 | 2021-06-29 | Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation | Methods for manufacturing bulked continuous filament from recycled PET |
AR100196A1 (en) * | 2014-10-21 | 2016-09-21 | Enye Tech S A | METHOD FOR DEVELOPING AN INPUT FROM THE RECYCLING OF PLASTIC MATERIAL OF INDUSTRIAL WASTE AND POST CONSUMPTION, SUITABLE TO BE USED BY 3D PRINTERS |
CN105057047A (en) * | 2015-09-09 | 2015-11-18 | 泸州职业技术学院 | Rotary chopping machine for traditional Chinese medicines |
EP3178639B1 (en) * | 2015-12-11 | 2021-09-22 | MTU Aero Engines AG | Method of repairing damages of aircraft engine components made of weldable thermoplastic materials |
BE1024238B1 (en) * | 2016-05-26 | 2018-01-10 | Reborn Plastics Naamloze Vennootschap | Method and device for recovering a first plastic from a complex product |
US10751915B2 (en) | 2016-11-10 | 2020-08-25 | Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation | Polyethylene terephthalate coloring systems and methods |
EP3573801B1 (en) | 2017-01-30 | 2023-05-31 | Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation | Methods for manufacturing bulked continuous filament from colored recyled pet |
WO2018161021A1 (en) | 2017-03-03 | 2018-09-07 | Mohawk Industries, Inc. | Method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament |
MX2020002899A (en) | 2017-09-15 | 2020-07-22 | Aladdin Mfg Corp | Polyethylene terephthalate coloring method and system for manufacturing a bulked continuous carpet filament. |
US11242622B2 (en) | 2018-07-20 | 2022-02-08 | Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation | Bulked continuous carpet filament manufacturing from polytrimethylene terephthalate |
CN113668072A (en) * | 2020-05-13 | 2021-11-19 | 宣城明佳羽绒有限公司 | Feather down production process |
DE102020130133A1 (en) * | 2020-11-16 | 2022-05-19 | Krones Aktiengesellschaft | Process and device for treating plastic containers for plastic processing |
CN113862797A (en) * | 2021-11-16 | 2021-12-31 | 张家港欣阳化纤有限公司 | Polyester chip heating and melting device for producing polyester filaments |
CN114953258B (en) * | 2022-05-12 | 2023-06-16 | 安徽环嘉天一再生资源有限公司 | Method and device for selecting plastic and method for producing recycled plastic |
TWI836957B (en) * | 2023-04-06 | 2024-03-21 | 陳德雄 | Waste generating panel system and method thereof |
Family Cites Families (17)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS5388978A (en) * | 1976-12-29 | 1978-08-04 | Furukawa Electric Co Ltd:The | Device which seperates and recovers conductor and coated material from covered wire |
US4379525A (en) * | 1981-08-06 | 1983-04-12 | Owens-Illinois, Inc. | Process for recycling plastic container scrap |
JPS6168207A (en) * | 1984-09-13 | 1986-04-08 | Masaru Sato | Recovery of polyester resin regenerated blank material from pet bottle |
US4809854A (en) * | 1987-01-12 | 1989-03-07 | Nelmor Co., Inc. | Flotation apparatus for reclaiming bonded, two-resin articles |
EP0296791A3 (en) * | 1987-06-22 | 1990-03-28 | Design Count Pty. Ltd. | Non-ferrous metal stripping from electric cables |
DE3728558A1 (en) * | 1987-08-27 | 1989-03-09 | Akw Apparate Verfahren | METHOD FOR REPROCESSING THE PET OF USED, PET-CONTAINING PRODUCTS, AND ARRANGEMENT FOR IMPLEMENTING THE METHOD |
JPH066292B2 (en) * | 1989-12-04 | 1994-01-26 | 秀博 柏木 | Waste plastic film recycling apparatus and method |
JP2588062B2 (en) * | 1990-12-27 | 1997-03-05 | 秀博 柏木 | Method and apparatus for reclaiming plastic molded product waste |
US5115987A (en) * | 1991-02-19 | 1992-05-26 | Mithal Ashish K | Method for separation of beverage bottle components |
US5143308A (en) * | 1991-03-26 | 1992-09-01 | Plastic Recycling Alliance, Lp | Recycling system |
US5232607A (en) * | 1991-03-29 | 1993-08-03 | Lundquist Lynn C | Method for mobile plastic and oil separation |
US5375778A (en) * | 1991-10-21 | 1994-12-27 | Lundquist; Lynn C. | Continuous method for reclaiming plastic scrap |
TW215061B (en) * | 1991-11-15 | 1993-10-21 | Pautekku Kk | |
AU662338B2 (en) * | 1992-03-13 | 1995-08-31 | Wellman, Inc. | Method and apparatus of sorting plastic items |
DE4216638C1 (en) * | 1992-05-20 | 1993-09-16 | Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft, 70567 Stuttgart, De | |
DE4324237A1 (en) * | 1993-07-20 | 1995-01-26 | Metallgesellschaft Ag | Method and device for the preparation of moldings from different polymers |
DE69417221D1 (en) * | 1994-06-30 | 1999-04-22 | Rhone Poulenc Agro S P A | Waste compacting method and apparatus |
-
1996
- 1996-12-03 TW TW085115137A patent/TW329401B/en active
- 1996-12-04 CA CA 2192051 patent/CA2192051A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 1996-12-10 DE DE1996618554 patent/DE69618554T2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1996-12-10 EP EP19960119759 patent/EP0779136B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1996-12-10 DK DK96119759T patent/DK0779136T3/en active
- 1996-12-11 US US08/764,013 patent/US5961054A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1996-12-11 KR KR1019960064285A patent/KR100396187B1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1996-12-13 BR BR9605992A patent/BR9605992A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1996-12-13 CN CN96119791A patent/CN1076264C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US8080190B2 (en) | 2006-02-02 | 2011-12-20 | Ricoh Company Limited | Method of molding a toner bottle using up to 8-sided recycled flake |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
DK0779136T3 (en) | 2002-03-18 |
MX9606346A (en) | 1997-10-31 |
KR970033693A (en) | 1997-07-22 |
CN1076264C (en) | 2001-12-19 |
CN1160627A (en) | 1997-10-01 |
EP0779136A2 (en) | 1997-06-18 |
CA2192051A1 (en) | 1997-06-14 |
TW329401B (en) | 1998-04-11 |
BR9605992A (en) | 1998-09-01 |
EP0779136A3 (en) | 1998-07-01 |
DE69618554T2 (en) | 2002-08-22 |
KR100396187B1 (en) | 2004-08-18 |
DE69618554D1 (en) | 2002-02-21 |
US5961054A (en) | 1999-10-05 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
EP0779136B1 (en) | Method of recycling and granulating waste container made of resin materials | |
US5143308A (en) | Recycling system | |
US5351895A (en) | Separating device for cellulosic and thin plastic materials | |
NL1002520C2 (en) | Method and device for recovering resin material from industrial waste from plastic film. | |
CN105903747B (en) | The recovery processing technique method of medical infusion equipment | |
WO1992022380A1 (en) | Method and apparatus for plastics recycling | |
CA1084468A (en) | Pulverising apparatus with a toothed disc | |
US5335786A (en) | Method and apparatus for separation and recycling plastics | |
JP5187772B2 (en) | Waste separation method and apparatus | |
US6588597B2 (en) | Disposal system for plastic | |
CA2247122A1 (en) | Process and facility for treating and sorting recyclable waste materials | |
JP2002096329A (en) | Grinding/cleaning device for waste plastics and grinding/ cleaning method | |
EP0893220B1 (en) | Apparatus for recycling polyethylene, particularly polyethylene foil | |
GB2465839A (en) | A processing line for recycling plastics | |
KR102188364B1 (en) | Recycling system for plastic packaging film wastes | |
KR101660799B1 (en) | PET Bottle Chip Separation Apparatus for Recycling PET Bottle | |
JP4547099B2 (en) | Equipment for recycling used PET bottles | |
JP3583374B2 (en) | Waste plastic recycling equipment | |
JPS5731529A (en) | Regeneration of waste plastic container | |
JPS5729424A (en) | Method of reclamation of waste plastic container | |
JPH09220721A (en) | Method for recovery and pelletizing of discarded resin packaging container and apparatus therefor | |
MXPA96006346A (en) | Method of recirculation and granulation decentenedor of waste made of deres materials | |
JPH01148517A (en) | Method for disposing used plastic bottle | |
JPH10244536A (en) | Method and apparatus for recovering and granulating packaging container made from waste resin | |
JPH10146828A (en) | Device and method for recovering and granulating waste resin packaging container and manufacture of food packaging container composed of recovered resin material |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A2 Designated state(s): BE CH DE DK ES FR GB GR IT LI |
|
PUAL | Search report despatched |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009013 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A3 Designated state(s): BE CH DE DK ES FR GB GR IT LI |
|
17P | Request for examination filed |
Effective date: 19990104 |
|
17Q | First examination report despatched |
Effective date: 19990826 |
|
GRAG | Despatch of communication of intention to grant |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS AGRA |
|
GRAG | Despatch of communication of intention to grant |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS AGRA |
|
GRAH | Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS IGRA |
|
GRAH | Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS IGRA |
|
GRAH | Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS IGRA |
|
RAP1 | Party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred) |
Owner name: EIN ENGINEERING CO., LTD. |
|
GRAA | (expected) grant |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009210 |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: GB Ref legal event code: IF02 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: B1 Designated state(s): BE CH DE DK ES FR GB GR IT LI |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: GR Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20020116 Ref country code: BE Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20020116 |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: CH Ref legal event code: EP |
|
REF | Corresponds to: |
Ref document number: 69618554 Country of ref document: DE Date of ref document: 20020221 |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: DK Ref legal event code: T3 |
|
ET | Fr: translation filed | ||
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: ES Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20020730 |
|
PLBE | No opposition filed within time limit |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009261 |
|
STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: NO OPPOSITION FILED WITHIN TIME LIMIT |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: GB Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20021210 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: LI Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20021231 Ref country code: CH Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20021231 |
|
26N | No opposition filed | ||
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: DK Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20030131 |
|
GBPC | Gb: european patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee | ||
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: DK Ref legal event code: EBP |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: CH Ref legal event code: PL |
|
PGFP | Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: FR Payment date: 20040323 Year of fee payment: 9 |
|
PGFP | Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: DE Payment date: 20041227 Year of fee payment: 9 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: IT Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20051210 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: DE Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20060701 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: FR Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20060831 |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: FR Ref legal event code: ST Effective date: 20060831 |